Flawless
by By the Sounding Sea
Summary: Christine may have been born deaf, but that doesn't mean she's not flawless in Brennan and Booth's eyes. A story about how Brennan and Booth choose to raise a deaf daughter.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"Just think, Bones. In a few weeks, this little gal will be out of your stomach and in our arms."

It was just a few weeks away from Brennan's due date, and she and Booth were ecstatic. They were sitting together on the couch in the living room of their house. _Their _house. Booth still couldn't believe that he was able to say that he and Brennan shared a home. It always made him feel fulfilled.

"Technically, it would be more accurate to say that she'll be out of my womb and in our arms," Brennan said.

"We don't have to get into the girly stuff," Booth said.

"Are you getting nervous?" Brennan asked him.

"Nervous? Seeley Booth does _not_ get nervous," Booth said. "Why? Should I be nervous?"

Brennan smiled. "No, I don't think so. However…I will admit that against rationality, I am feeling rather anxious."

"Well, let me ask you something. Have you been smoking?"

"You know I don't smoke."

"Have you been drinking?"

"Of course not! I'm pregnant."

"Then what's there to worry about?" Booth said.

"It's just…I saw how nervous Angela and Hodgins were before Michael was born, and…"

"And what?"

Brennan exhaled. "There was such a high likelihood that Michael was going to be born blind. Angela and Hodgins worried all the time. And he wasn't blind. I'm just wondering…"

"Wondering what, Bones?"

"You'll laugh at me," Brennan said.

"I would never laugh at you," Booth said. "Come on. Something's bothering you."

"It's just…They worried so much and he wasn't born blind, but we're not worrying at all," Brennan said. "I know it's completely irrational, but I'm just wondering if…if something terrible is going to happen to Christine because we're not worrying."

"Bones, nothing is going to happen to her," Booth assured Brennan. "No matter how much we worry or don't worry, Christine is going to be perfect. I promise. Now come on. Let's watch a little TV, get your mind off things."

"I can't watch another hockey game," Brennan said. "How about the only channel I somewhat enjoy?"

"History Channel it is." Booth turned on the TV and went to the right channel, revealing a program about the Kennedy assassination. Brennan rested her head on Booth's shoulder and tried to pay attention, but the only thing she could focus on was Christine. She knew that Booth was right; there was no reason to worry, and worrying wasn't going to accomplish anything.

But her newfound mother's intuition told her that something was going to go very, very wrong.

**XXX**

Two weeks later, on December twenty-fourth, Booth and Brennan found themselves in a hospital delivery room. It had been an easy labor, and before they knew it, Christine was sitting in Brennan's arms.

"She's gorgeous, isn't she, Bones?" Booth said, sitting in a chair next to the hospital bed Brennan was lying in with Christine in her arms.

"I certainly think so, but we are both quite biased," Brennan said. Booth was laughing at her response when they heard someone knock on the door. They looked up to see one of the nurses standing in the doorway.

"Hi, there!" she said happily. "Looks like you got a little early Christmas present."

Booth smiled. "We certainly did."

"What's her name?" the nurse asked.

"Christine," Brennan told her.

"That's a beautiful name. Congratulations," the nurse said. "If I could just steal Christine away from you for just a few minutes so she can have her vision and hearing screening and I promise I'll bring her right back to you."

"But…" Brennan looked down at Christine and tightened her grip around her slightly. The last thing she wanted to do was hand her daughter, who she had waited so long to hold, over to a stranger.

"It's okay, Bones," Booth assured her. "They've gotta check her eyes and her ears. They won't let us leave the hospital until they do."

"I know," Brennan said. "I just don't want to give her up."

"I promise, Mrs. Booth, I'll have her brought right back to in just a few minutes," the nurse promised.

Momentarily distracted by being called Mrs. Booth, Brennan handed Christine over to the nurse who took her from the room. It was just after the door closed behind her that she felt she had made a mistake.

"I have to go get her back," Brennan said, trying to get out of bed.

"Whoa, Bones, are you crazy?" Booth said, gently pushing her back against the pillows. "You just gave birth. I know you're full of hormones and everything, but you've gotta know that the nurse is gonna take good care of her."

Brennan exhaled. "I know. You're right. Of course you're right. I'm being foolish."

Booth smiled. "No. You're being a mother." Brennan smiled back at him. They sat in silence for a few minutes, holding each other's hands as they waited for the nurse to return with Christine. After ten minutes had passed, Brennan started to get worried.

"Why is it taking so long, Booth?" Brennan asked anxiously.

"Maybe there was a line of other babies in front of Christine," Booth suggested.

"Then they shouldn't have taken her from me until it was her turn," Brennan countered.

"Bones, just chill, alright?" Booth said, stroking her arm. "Why don't you just try to rest, okay? I'll go find out where Christine is."

"You promise?" Brennan asked.

"Of course. As soon as you close your eyes, I'll go out and talk to the nurses, okay?" Booth said. Brennan still looked hesitant. "Bones, you're exhausted. That's part of the problem. You need to relax."

"Maybe you're right," Brennan admitted. "If you go check on Christine, I'll go to sleep."

Just after Brennan closed her eyes and Booth was halfway out of his chair, someone knocked on the door. Brennan's eyes immediately darted open.

"Come in," Brennan and Booth said in unison. The nurse who had taken Christine for her vision and hearing screening came in holding their baby, with an unknown woman standing behind her.

"So, how'd she do?" Booth asked as the nurse put Christine back in Brennan's arms.

"She did very well with the vision screening," the nurse said. "However…"

The woman stepped forward until she had reached the foot of Brennan's hospital bed. "Mr. and Mrs. Booth, I'm Dr. Jasper, the chief audiologist here at the hospital," the woman said. "I'm very sorry to have to tell you that…your daughter failed the hearing test."

"Wha…What?" Booth said. "What do you mean she failed the hearing test?"

"Christine was born deaf," the Dr. Jasper said more directly.

"Wait, how do you define deaf?" Booth asked. "Like, she's just got a little hearing loss, right? Get her some hearing aids and she'll be able to hear perfectly?"

Dr. Jasper shook her head. "I'm afraid not, Mr. Booth. Christine is completely deaf."

"How…How is that possible?" Booth asked. Brennan was too shocked for words. She just looked down at her newborn daughter, sleeping peacefully in her arms, blissfully unaware of the challenges she would have to face in her life.

"Most likely, either her cochlea was born without hairs in it or—"

"Or the bones didn't form correctly while she was in the womb," Brennan whispered, still staring down at Christine.

Dr. Jasper nodded. "That's correct."

"So…So what are we supposed to do?" Booth asked. "Where do we go from here?"

"Try not to worry about it for the moment," Dr. Jasper said. "I know that seems impossible, but you do have a perfectly healthy baby. There's no chance of her dying or anything like that. Just spend some time with her, get to know her, and in a few weeks, you can bring her back to the hospital and we can figure out what we'll do."

"I saw a few people out in the waiting room. They said they were waiting for you," the nurse said. "If you'd like, I could bring them to your room. Or would you like a few minutes alone?"

Booth looked at Brennan. "Bones?" When she met his gaze, he saw tears in her eyes. "Oh, Bones." He turned to the nurse. "I think we might need a few minutes. But please bring them back in a bit."

"Absolutely. If you need anything, just call," the nurse said before she and Dr. Jasper left room just as tears were starting to slide down Brennan's cheeks.

"Bones, hey," Booth said, gently stroking her hair. "It's just like she said. Christine is healthy. She's going to live. We could be sitting in the NICU with Christine in an incubator, unable to touch our baby. But here we are. A family. A beautiful, complete family."

"I know," Brennan whispered. "I'm not upset that she's deaf. I mean, I am upset that she's deaf. But I'm more upset because I know how much she's going to have to struggle."

"Bones, I want you to look at Christine," Booth said. Brennan did. "What do you see?"

"Our daughter," Brennan said simply.

"I see more than that," Booth said. "I see your blue eyes. Your auburn hair. Your strong bone structure. I see you."

"You do?" Brennan asked.

"Yeah, Bones. Christine looks just like you. And since she looks just like you, that automatically makes her beautiful," Booth said. Brennan just smiled. "It doesn't matter if Christine can't hear. She's going to be funny and kind and stubborn and brilliant, just like her mother."

"And she's going to be brave and strong and entertaining, just like her father," Brennan added quietly, still looking down at Christine.

"Exactly," Booth said with a smile. "She was going to be different to begin with because she's our child. Now she's just going to be different in a different way."

"It's not fun, being different," Bones said softly. "What if the other kids at school tease her like they teased me?"

"She was born thirty minutes ago, Bones," Booth said. "We'll talk about school in a few years. For now, we'll just focus on teaching her sign language and learning it ourselves so we can all communicate with each other."

"You're right," Brennan said. "It's going to be fine, isn't it, Booth?"

"Of course it is, Bones," Booth agreed. "I think that God knew that if we had a completely normal kid, we might get bored, so He threw in a little extra challenge for us."

"I still don't believe in God, but I will accept your rationalization," Brennan said. "I still love her. I never knew I could love something as much as I love her."

"Of course you do, Bones. And so do I," Booth said. "She's our kid! Just think about that, Bones. We have a kid!"

Brennan smiled. "We have a kid." Someone knocked on the door a few moments after Brennan finished speaking. "Come in." Angela, Hodgins, Cam, and Sweets entered the room.

"Hey! The nurse told us we could come back and—Oh, my God, is that her?!" Angela squealed. She rushed over to Brennan's bedside. "Okay, sweetie, you've had your time with her. Time for the godmother to get her dose of baby love." Smiling, Brennan carefully handed Christine over to Angela. "Oh, my God, this is _the _cutest baby I've ever seen. Hi, little baby whose name has still not been released to us by your evil, evil parents. Get used to your Aunt Angie because you're going to be seeing a _lot_ of me."

"Can the godfather have a turn?" Hodgins asked, raising his hand.

"You're going to have to fight me for her, Jack," Angela said.

Hodgins just smiled. "Come on, Angie. Give her up."

"Oh, fine." Angela carefully handed Christine to Hodgins. Sweets and Cam gathered around him so they could get a look at her.

"Oh, Booth, Dr. Brennan, she is gorgeous," Cam exclaimed.

"Fine looking kid there," Sweets agreed.

"Okay, you two. You've kept it a secret for the last two months. I'm dying here," Angela said. "What is this beautiful little thing's name?"

"Are you ready?" Booth asked.

"Yes!" Angela exclaimed.

"Are you sure?"

"Seeley Booth, I will kidnap your child."

"Alright, alright," Booth said, laughing. "Bones, you wanna do the honors?"

"Christine," Brennan told their friends. "Christine Angela Booth."

Angela gasped. "That is the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. You named her after your mom? And you named her after me?! Oh, I am so, totally, completely honored!"

Brennan smiled. "I'm glad you like it."

"We love it!" Cam said. "Christine is a beautiful name."

_A beautiful name that she'll never hear, _Brennan thought to herself.

"Alright, give Bones our child back before she starts having separation anxiety," Booth said. Hodgins carefully handed Christine over to Brennan.

"Is everything okay, sweetie?" Angela asked. "You seem…I don't know…Not so happy for someone who's just had an adorable baby."

"Well…there is something we haven't told you," Booth said. Everyone in the room immediately became more somber.

"Is Christine okay?" Cam asked.

"She's a perfectly healthy baby," Booth said.

"Then what haven't you told us?" Angela asked.

"Christine…Christine failed the hearing test. She was born deaf," Brennan said quietly, staring down at her child and avoiding her friends' stares. It was hard enough to hear them gasp.

"You mean…Like…Like completely deaf?" Angela asked, dumbfounded. Brennan and Booth both nodded. "Oh. Oh, God. Oh, sweetie…"

"We're okay with it," Booth said. "If Christine was born deaf, then for some reason, she was supposed to be deaf. This is what's happening, and we're just going to go with it."

"I feel awful, though," Angela said. "My son was supposed to be born blind, but he wasn't. Your daughter was supposed to be born with all of her senses, but she was born deaf."

"It's not your fault, Ange," Brennan said quietly, still looking at Christine. "Booth says…Booth says it's because God knew that we would be bored with a normal child, so He gave us a deaf child. I don't believe in God, but it seems like as good a rationalization as any."

"There are a lot of great programs out there for deaf children these days," Cam said, trying to sound reassuring. "With those and with you two as her parents, I'm sure Christine is going to be fine."

"Of course she will. We are all going to love her more than any kid has been loved before," Angela said.

"So are you going to teach her sign language or do you want to think about a cochlear implant?" Cam asked.

"What's a cochlear implant?" Booth asked.

"I'm too tired to even think about that," Brennan said.

"Of course," Cam said.

"But what is it?" Booth asked.

"I'll tell you later, Booth. I promise," Brennan said.

"Okay, Bones. You wanna take a nap?" Booth asked.

"That seems like a decent idea," Brennan said.

"Here. I'll take Christine. You get some rest," Booth said as he removed Christine from Brennan's arms. "We'll get her a bottle and hang out in the waiting room for a bit while you sleep, okay?"

"Mmm-hmm," Brennan muttered with her eyes closed, already half asleep. Booth and the others left the room. Booth got a bottle from the nurse and they brought it out to the waiting room.

"Bones predicted this," Booth said once they were all seated as he fed Christine the bottle.

"She predicted that Christine was going to be born deaf?" Angela asked.

"Not specifically," Booth said. "A few weeks ago, we were talking, and she said that you and Hodgins worried so much about Michael being blind, but then he wasn't born blind. Bones was afraid that something was going to go wrong with Christine since we barely worried at all."

"That doesn't sound like Dr. Brennan," Cam said. "It's not rational."

"Pregnancy makes you think about a _whole_ lot of irrational things, believe you me," Angela said. "But it is kind of creepy that she was right."

"She usually is," Booth said quietly as he gently bounced Christine in his lap. "Cam, what's that thing you asked Bones about? The something implant?"

"The cochlear implant," Cam said. "It's a device implanted in a deaf child's skull that can create the perception of hearing."

"There's a thing that can make deaf kids hear?" Booth asked.

"Not exactly," Cam said. "It's not the same as real hearing, and it's rather controversial. Some people end up hating it, some end up loving it. There's no way to tell."

"Are you going to consider that for Christine?" Angela asked.

"We'll consider it, but I doubt Bones would go for it," Booth said.

"Why not?" Sweets asked.

"Because then she would be nowhere," Booth said. "She wouldn't be deaf, but she wouldn't be able to hear, either. She wouldn't fit in anywhere. And Bones is really concerned about her fitting in."

"Why?" Cam asked.

"Because she knows what it's like not to," Booth said. "There are schools out there that are just for deaf kids, aren't there?" Cam nodded. "I think Christine would be better off at a deaf school where she would fit in. But we'll think about it."

"The decision is completely up to you and Dr. Brennan, of course, but I agree that she would probably be better off amongst deaf peers whom she can relate to," Sweets said.

"We have some time before we have to think about school," Booth said. "The audiologist told us not to think about it right now and just spend some time with her. Get to know her. And we should probably sign up for sign language classes."

"On the bright side, I'm sure Christine will be a great sleeper," Cam said.

"And you won't have to worry about her overhearing you and Brennan talking about her," Hodgins added.

"And most importantly, you won't have to worry about her overhearing you two having sex," Angela said with an impish smile.

"Is that all you can think about?" Hodgins asked his wife with an amused smile.

"Hey, it's the leading thing in life, babe."

"I think this is the leading thing in life," Booth said, indicating to Christine.

"And how was she created?" Angela said.

Booth smiled. "Fair enough."

The group talked for another half hour before Christine woke up and started crying. Angela suggested that she missed her mother, so Booth decided to see if Brennan was still sleeping. She was sitting up in bed fiddling with her hospital bracelet when they entered the room.

"Hey, Bones," Booth said as he walked in with their crying baby.

"Is Christine okay?" Brennan asked anxiously.

"She will be in a minute," Booth said as he placed Christine into Brennan's arms. After a few moments, she went quiet.

"Apparently she was sick of me," Booth said. Brennan smiled down at their baby. "How long have you been awake?"

"Twenty minutes," Brennan said.

"Why didn't you call me? I would have come back," Booth said.

"I needed a little time to think," Brennan explained.

"You are a very good thinker," Booth said as he sat down in the chair beside her bed. "What were you thinking about?"

"Christine," Brennan said.

"What about Christine?"

"Mostly…I know the audiologist told us that we should try not to worry about Christine's deafness, but I can't help but think about everything that she's going to have to go through in her life," Brennan said.

"No matter what kind of challenge Christine is going to face, we're always going to be there for her to help her through it," Booth said.

"But we can't protect her from everything."

"No, of course we can't. It sucks, but that's just a part of parenting," Booth said. "We're going to help her as much as we can, okay, Bones?"

"I'm worried that Christine will feel like she won't be able to relate to us because we're not deaf," Brennan said, moving on to her next concern.

"I don't know about that one, but I can tell you that even if she doesn't think she can relate to us, she'll always know that we love her."

"I'm just so worried about school and communication and…and…everything. I'm just so worried about everything," Brennan said.

"You're _supposed _to be worried about everything," Booth said. "You're supposed to be nervous. You're supposed to be scared. We just had a kid. You and I are now responsible for a human life. That's a lot of pressure."

"But you seem fine," Brennan said. "I'm about to have an anxiety attack, and you're sitting there totally calm. Why is that?"

"Listen, Bones," Booth said, putting his hand over hers. "I have been through combat. I have been kidnapped and tortured. I have faced down death more times than I can count. But I have _never_ felt as scared as I did when Parker was born."

"Really?" Brennan asked.

"Really," Booth said. "I'm nervous, Bones. Of course I'm nervous. I would be nervous if Christine had been born with her hearing. But at least I would have had some experience with that. I have no idea how to raise a deaf child. But we're gonna figure it out, Bones. Together, we're gonna figure it out."

"You really think everything's going to be okay?" Brennan asked shyly.

"I don't think. I _know_," Booth said. Brennan's heart desperately wanted to believe him. But her oh-so rational brain wasn't so sure.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

After spending the night in the hospital, Brennan and Booth were allowed to go back home, but this time with an extra person sitting in the car seat in the back. While Booth put Christine in her crib when they got home, Brennan took a much needed shower. Since Brennan was preoccupied, Booth thought it would be a good opportunity for him to have a little alone time with their new daughter.

"Even before we found out you were deaf, Bones told me I shouldn't bother talking to you because you wouldn't be able to understand what I'm saying," Booth said to his daughter, wiggling and cooing in her bed, from the rocking chair he had pulled up to the crib. "But you know what, Christine? I don't care if you can hear me or not, understand me or not. I'm going to talk to you because that's what fathers do." He exhaled. "You know, I've been wondering ever since Bones told me she was pregnant what you're going to be like. I think you're going to be just like your mother. Stubborn. Rational. Funny in your own way. Intelligent. And strong. So strong. Bones is the strongest person I've ever met, and you're going to be just as strong as she is. You'll have to be. You're going to face challenges in your life that your mother and I won't be able to relate to. But we're going to do everything in our power to help you through it. Because we love you more than anything in the world, Christine. Never forget that."

"Booth?" Brennan said quietly from behind him. He turned around and saw her standing in the doorway. She was wearing a fluffy, snow white robe and her hair was still damp from her shower.

"Hey, Bones," he said. "I was just talking to Christine."

"But she can't hear you," Brennan pointed out.

"Yeah, well…Sometimes you just need to say your thoughts out loud," Booth said. "Bones, you speak, what, five languages?"

"Six," Brennan corrected him.

"Does sign language happen to be one of them?" Booth asked.

"I would be able to converse with someone, but I'm not fluent."

"Well, the only sign I know is certainly not appropriate for a child to see," Booth said. "I think we should start looking for a class."

"I think that would be wise," Brennan said. "But maybe we could wait a bit before we do that."

"Why would we wait?"

"Because I want to do what the audiologist said we should do," Brennan said. "I just want to spend time with her. I don't want to worry about her deafness until we have to. Next week, we'll make an appointment with Dr. Jasper and we'll see what she has to say. But for now, can't we just get to know our daughter?"

"I think that would be nice, Bones," Booth said. "But she seems pretty tired right now. And so do you. Why don't I make us some coffee? You look like you need it."

"I didn't sleep much last night," Brennan admitted. "I wasn't in my own bed and I was so distracted by Christine…"

"It's times like that when you just have to turn off your brain," Booth advised.

"I'm not capable of turning off my brain," Brennan said. "Come on. You promised me coffee."

"You got it." Booth took one last look at Christine to make sure she was still asleep, then went down to the kitchen with Brennan. After he put a pot of coffee on and got out the creamer, Brennan pulled out her cell phone.

"Who are you calling?" Booth asked as he poured the coffee into two mugs.

"My dad."

"Why?"

"He called me last night while you were in the waiting room with the others," Brennan said. "I told him that I had just had Christine and said he could come over today to meet her. Now I'm calling him to tell him not to come."

"Why don't you want your dad to meet our daughter?" Booth asked.

"Because."

"Because why?"

Brennan sighed. "Because he'll say stupid things, and I don't want to hear it."

"Say stupid things about what, Bones?"

"About Christine. About her being deaf," Brennan said quietly.

"What makes you think that?"

"Because that's what he does," Brennan said. "He says stupid things about everything and thinks he's being funny. I don't want him to make fun of Christine."

"Bones, this is his granddaughter," Booth said. "He would never make fun of his granddaughter."

"Maybe he won't try to, but he will."

"Bones, just trust me on this, okay? Max is going to love Christine just as much as we do, and if he doesn't, I promise you, I'll kick his ass," Booth said.

Brennan gave him a small smile. "You promise?"

"Promise."

"Okay. I'll let him come." Brennan looked at the clock on the microwave. "He'll be here soon. I should go get dressed." She rushed up the stairs to their bedroom. Booth stood in the kitchen drinking his black coffee until he heard the doorbell ring. Since Brennan hadn't come down yet, he went to open the door. Max was standing on the front porch holding a big, wrapped box.

"Good morning, Booth!" Max said cheerfully with the biggest smile Booth had ever seen on him.

"Morning, Max," Booth said as Max walked inside and closed the door behind him. "Whatcha got in the box?"

"Just a little present for my granddaughter," Max said as he put the box on the ground. "But first, where's Tempe?"

"Right here," Brennan said as she joined them in the front hall. Max immediately threw his arms around her. Brennan was surprised, but slowly hugged him back.

"It was great when Russ married Amy and I got two step-granddaughters, but there's something different about having a full granddaughter," Max said after he let her go. "Congrats, Tempe."

"Thanks, Dad," Brennan said hesitantly.

"What's her name?" Max asked.

"Bones didn't tell you last night on the phone?" Booth asked.

"No. She said she thought you might want to tell me in person," Max said.

"Bones, why do you torture the man?" Booth said jokingly.

"Her name is Christine, Dad," Brennan said with a small smile, knowing how much he was going to appreciate them naming their daughter after his late wife.

"You named her after your mother?" Max asked quietly. Brennan nodded. Max hugged her again. There was no hesitation on Brennan's part this time. She hugged him back.

"That's a wonderful name, Tempe. A wonderful name," Max said as he let her go. "So, where is Christine? I'm dying to meet her."

"She's upstairs in her crib, but before I bring her down, there's something you should know," Brennan said.

"What? Is everything okay? Did something happen to her?" Max asked. Brennan hadn't seen her father so anxious in a long time.

"She's healthy," Brennan said. "But…" She looked at Booth, silently asking him to say it.

"Max…Christine was born deaf," Booth said. Max was frozen for a moment, then smiled.

"You're joking, right?" he asked. Brennan and Booth just looked at him. Max's face slowly fell. "How…How did that happen?"

"Sometimes things don't go as planned," Booth said simply.

"Aren't you angry?" Max asked, clearly getting riled up himself. Brennan and Booth both shook their heads. "Why not?"

"Because we have a healthy, beautiful daughter. That's all I care about," Brennan said.

"If you're okay with it, I'm okay with it," Max said, forcing himself to calm down for his daughter's sake. "So…what are you going to do about it?"

"We're going to meet with an audiologist next week. But right now, we just want to spend time with her, let her get used to her new home," Booth told him.

"I think that sounds like a good plan," Max said. "You're both going to be great parents. Much better parents than I was, though that's not saying much."

"Dad…"

"Just let me finish," Max said. "Life throws curveballs, and this is one of those curveballs. Tempe, I know that this is certainly not your first nor your last. But those challenges have made you a better person. I think raising Christine is going to make you even better. Just remember…everything always turns out the way it's supposed to."

"We think so, too," Booth said.

"So!" Max said brightly as he clapped his hands together, wanting to change the mood to joyful, like it should have been. "One of you better bring me my granddaughter this minute!"

Brennan smiled. "I'll be right back." She turned around and went upstairs. She returned a few moments later with Christine in her arms. Max's eyes lit up when he saw her.

"Is that really her?" he asked. Brennan nodded with a smile. "Can I hold her?" Brennan carefully transferred Christine from her arms to Max's. She hadn't seen him so happy in a long time. "My goodness, you are gorgeous, aren't you?" He looked up at Brennan. "She looks _just_ like your mother, Tempe."

"Then I suppose it's appropriate that we named her Christine," Brennan said.

"You know, it's a good thing your mom isn't here," Max said.

"Why's that?" Brennan asked.

"She would never give her back to you," Max said.

"Give me my child," Brennan said with a smile before she removed her from Max's arms. "What's in that box?"

"It's a present for Christine, but I'm not sure how much use you're going to get out of it now," Max said.

"Why? What is it?" Booth asked.

"Ah, it's just one of those talking plastic musical keyboards," Max said dismissively.

"Thank you. I'm sure she'll love it," Brennan said politely.

"But she can't hear it."

"We'll find a way to use it," Booth said. "Thanks, Max."

"'Course," Max said. "So, how can I help you guys? When are you going back to work, Tempe?"

"Well, Cam generously offered her six weeks off, but Bones is being stubborn—"

"I'm not stubborn!"

"—And doesn't even want to take two," Booth finished. "I'm telling you, Bones. You should take as much time with Christine as you can before you really have to go back to work."

"Well, when are you going back to work?" Brennan asked.

"Week and half," Booth said. "But you should stay out longer."

"I want to stay home with her, I do. It's just…"

"It's what, Bones?"

"I'm afraid I might lose my mind if I go too long without a puzzle to solve," Brennan said.

"We'll buy you a jigsaw," Booth said simply.

"I want a dead body."

"Now that just sounds creepy."

"I'm not creepy!"

"I said _that _sounds creepy, not _you_!"

"Jeez, jeez, you bicker like an old married couple!" Max interjected. "Booth, there's no denying that Tempe is a little addicted to her bones and…whatnot. If she needs to go back to work before six weeks, she should."

"Then who's gonna watch Christine?" Booth asked.

"I'll watch her," Max offered.

"Dad—"

"Perfect!" Booth interrupted Brennan. "Thanks, Max."

"Don't I get a say in this?" Brennan asked.

"Nope, sorry, Bones. When free child care is being offered, you snap it up as fast as you can," Booth said. "We appreciate it, Max."

"Sure, sure. Anything I can do," Max said.

"If you two'll excuse me for just a moment, I'm gonna run to the bathroom," Booth said, squeezing Brennan's shoulder lovingly on his way out of the room, making her smile happily. Max smirked at the sight.

"Why are you smiling?" Brennan asked once Booth was gone.

"It's nice to see your child happy with another person. I was starting to wonder if it was ever going to happen for you," Max said. "It's just…It's nice to see you happy, Tempe."

"It's…nice to be happy," Brennan said.

"Are you really okay with Christine being…you know?" Max asked. Brennan looked down at Christine. "Tempe?"

"She's my daughter and I love her," Brennan said quietly.

"I'm not doubting that, baby. I'm just wondering."

"Booth says…Booth once told me that you don't get to pick and choose aspects of someone. You have to love them as a whole," Brennan said. "I love Christine as a whole."

Max nodded. "Booth is a pretty smart guy."

"Why am I a smart guy?" Booth asked as he reentered the room.

"Because you always know the right thing to say," Max said. "Well, I better head off, leave you three alone together." He extended his hand to Booth, who grasped it into a firm handshake. "Congratulations. Take care of them, alright?"

"Always," Booth said.

"Kisses, baby," Max said to Brennan before he left their house. Booth closed the door behind him.

"Are you glad he came over?" Booth asked.

Brennan nodded. "He was much more well-behaved than I expected."

"Maybe you should start to give the guy a little more credit. He's changed a lot these past few years," Booth said.

"Perhaps you're right," Brennan said.

"Well, it occurred to me that I still haven't called Parker and told him about Christine," Booth said.

Brennan nodded. "I'll put Christine in her room while you make your call. Will Parker be happy to have a half-sister?"

"Are you kidding me? He's been so psyched ever since I told him you were pregnant," Booth said. "You know what else occurred to me?"

"What?"

"It's December twenty-fifth," Booth said. He pecked Brennan's cheek. "Merry Christmas, Bones."

Brennan smiled. "Merry Christmas, Booth."

"This is gonna be the best Christmas present I ever gave Parker, even better than that freaky robot Zack built," Booth said, excitement shining in his eyes.

"Well, don't let me keep you. We'll talk when you get off the phone," Brennan said. Booth smiled at her before he stepped into the living room to call Parker. Brennan brought Christine up to her room and put her back in her crib. She met her daughter's eyes. Booth was right; the blue hue of her irises were identical to Brennan's. She gently squeezed Christine's tiny hand.

"I don't care what anyone says," Brennan whispered to her. "I love you as a whole."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

After Christine had been home from the hospital for a week, Booth and Brennan realized that they couldn't put off the inevitable for much longer; they had to make an appointment with the audiologist. Brennan and Booth returned to the hospital with Christine to meet with Dr. Jasper a few days after Max had first met Christine. They rode the elevator up to the fifth floor and entered the waiting room of Dr. Jasper's office. While Booth filled out the paperwork, Brennan watched Christine sleeping in her car seat. Cam had been right; it seemed like the only thing Christine did was sleep. She barely cried at all. When Michael was first born, Angela and Hodgins complained of countless sleepless nights and how difficult it was to have a newborn. Brennan and Booth didn't have any problems with Christine. She was the easiest baby anyone could have. Booth felt very lucky, as did Brennan. But at the same time, Brennan was worried that this was just another way that Christine wasn't normal and if it was a sign that something else was wrong with her.

"Mr. and Mrs. Booth?" a nurse said from the door leading to the exam rooms.

"That's us," Booth said as he and Brennan stood up and walked back into the office, carrying Christine with them. The nurse brought them into an office. Dr. Jasper was sitting behind a large mahogany desk.

"It's nice to see you again, Mr. and Mrs. Booth. Please, have a seat," she greeted them.

"Why does everyone always assume we're married?" Brennan asked as they sat down in the two chairs on the other side of Dr. Jasper's desk.

"Maybe because we have a child together, Bones. Now shh."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make an assumption," Dr. Jasper said. "What is your title?"

"Dr. Brennan," Brennan informed her.

"Oh, you're a doctor. What's your specialty?"

"PhD, not MD," Brennan said. "Why does everyone always assume that I'm a medical doctor?"

"It's okay, Bones," Booth said gently. He knew that she was being so sensitive because she was worried about Christine. Her fear and anxiety presented itself as irritation. He didn't want to make her feel worse by snapping at her. He slipped his hand into Brennan's and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"Sorry, Dr. Jasper. Bones is just worrying about Christine," Booth said.

"Bones?" Dr. Jasper said questioningly, her eyebrows raised.

"It's obviously a nickname," Brennan said rather curtly.

"She doesn't know that, Bones, and it's an undeniably strange nickname," Booth said. "Sorry, again. I call her Bones because she's a forensic anthropologist. She works with skeletons and stuff like that."

"The term 'stuff' is inaccurate," Brennan muttered.

"Anyway, Bones tends to get a little irritable when she's anxious," Booth said, trying to put their discussion back on track. "She'll be good, won't you, Bones?"

"I just need to know what our first step is," Brennan said. She suddenly looked quite weary. Booth knew that Christine's deafness had been weighing on her. It was a rare occasion when Brennan didn't have even the slightest clue what to do about something, but whenever she was in one of those situations, it drained her energy.

"Hopefully I can help you with that," Dr. Jasper said, seeing how much Brennan had been thinking about this for the past week. "The first step when an infant is born deaf is trying to uncover possible causes. The most probable cause is genetic factors. Has there been any history of hearing loss on either side of your family?"

"My parents hear perfectly. Always have," Booth said.

"What about you, Dr. Brennan?"

"My father hears just fine. My mother is dead, so I don't know about her," Brennan said. "What are the nongenetic factors?"

"Things that could have gone wrong during the pregnancy can cause hearing loss," Dr. Jasper said. "Did you have any sort of infection while you were pregnant, such as measles or herpes?"

"What? No, none of those," Brennan said.

"She was really healthy while she was pregnant," Booth confirmed.

"Was Christine born premature?"

"No, she was right on time," Booth said.

"Another very probable cause is toxins. Did you happen to consume alcohol or take drugs while you were pregnant?" Dr. Jasper asked.

"Absolutely not," Brennan said firmly.

"Are you diabetic?"

"No," Brennan said with a sigh. She was getting tired of the questions.

"Was there a low birth weight?" Dr. Jasper asked.

"Nope. Nurse said she was healthy as ever," Booth said.

Dr. Jasper shrugged. "Well, there are times when these things just happen."

"But things happen for a reason," Brennan argued. "Every effect has a cause. I want to know the cause of this effect."

"Sometimes there isn't one, Bones," Booth said.

"I've never found an effect that didn't have a cause," Brennan said.

"And I never had a blueberry bagel until I first had one," Booth said. "There are firsts for everything."

"It's not rational," Brennan said. "It doesn't make sense."

"There are some things in this world that can't be explained by science, Bones," Booth said, soothingly running his thumb against the palm of her hand. He turned back to Dr. Jasper. "So, there's no known cause for her deafness. I'm curious, but that doesn't matter so much to me. I just want to know how we can help her."

"Based on the two possible problems with her ears—either the bones or her cochlea—she has sensorineural hearing loss, which is a good thing. We know more about it, so more things can be done," Dr. Jasper told them.

"Our friend, Cam, she's a medical doctor," Booth said. "She mentioned something called a cochlear implant. Would that be an option for Christine?"

Dr. Jasper nodded. "That is one way you could go. It's a difficult route, but if it works, it usually produces good results."

"What would we have to do?" Booth asked.

"First, Christine would have to go through surgery to have the device implanted in her skull," Dr. Jasper began. "After a few weeks, the implants will be activated and she'll be able to hear. But it doesn't stop there. She'll have to go through aural rehabilitation, speech therapy, countless doctor visits. And it's very expensive. The cost can reach up to one hundred thousand dollars after surgery, necessary equipment, and therapy."

"What are our other options?" Booth asked.

"The other option is to learn sign language and raise a child who is unable to hear," Dr. Jasper said. "When she gets older, with lots of practice, Christine can learn to read lips so she'll be able to understand what people are saying to her. It will be an abnormal life. But some people, especially those who are born deaf, like it. They're proud of it. They enjoy being able to be a part of their own community. Hearing people always assume that deaf people are miserable. But a lot of people really like it. A lot of people would never give up being deaf for anything. Christine could be one of those people."

"You've got that look on your face, Bones," Booth said. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking…what she's saying makes sense," Brennan said. "I don't want to put Christine through surgery and hours of therapy afterwards. I want her to fit in somewhere, and she would be able to assimilate into the deaf community. What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking the same thing you're thinking," Booth said. "I think we should go with the sign language route. It won't be easy, but since when have you and I ever backed down from anything because it's going to be hard?"

"Exactly," Brennan agreed.

Booth looked at Dr. Jasper. "Christine could be part of the deaf community, but what about us? Would they accept us even though we're not deaf?"

"The deaf community is very welcoming. I'm sure they would accept you," Dr. Jasper said.

"Do you think we'll be able to raise Christine well even if she's not able to hear?" Brennan asked shyly. Booth was surprised; she was always so confident. But not then.

"I think you two seem like a strong couple that never backs away from a challenge. You'll do just fine," Dr. Jasper assured them. "I can recommend a few sign language classes for you two to take, and when Christine is six months old, you can start teaching her."

"So you think we should start learning sign language now?" Brennan asked.

"Definitely," Dr. Jasper confirmed. "It takes awhile to become proficient in sign language, just like any other language, so you should start as soon as possible."

"I have another question," Brennan said. "Christine doesn't really do anything other than sleep. She barely even cries. Is that abnormal?"

"Not at all, especially for a deaf infant," Dr. Jasper said. "She can sleep a lot because she can't hear any noise to wake her up. As for the lack of crying, you were just lucky enough to have an easy baby."

"I just wanted to make sure," Brennan said. "Is there anything else we could be doing for her right now?"

"Just start learning sign language," Dr. Jasper said. "Learning ASL is going to be one of the most important things you do for her. When she's a little older, you can start thinking about other things like school. For now, you just need to learn to communicate with her. I'll write down the names of a few good organizations who offer classes."

After Dr. Jasper gave them a list of names, Brennan and Booth took Christine home. Booth made a few phone calls to the places Dr. Jasper had recommended while Brennan put Christine in her crib. When Brennan came back downstairs, Booth was just getting off the phone.

"I think I just found a good one, Bones," he said. "We'll have to leave work a little early on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, but I think this is the best one." When Brennan didn't respond, Booth became concerned. "Bones? You okay?"

"What if we're making the wrong decision?" she asked quietly. "What if the cochlear implant would be better for her?"

Booth walked over to Brennan. "Bones, let me tell you something I've learned from my experience with Parker."

"What's that?"

"We are going to screw up," Booth said. "We're going to make mistakes. It's in the nature of parenting. We just have to learn from them and do better next time."

"But this isn't like we're giving her bad advice or something," Brennan said. "This is a life-altering decision that she has no input in. What if we're making the wrong choice?"

"Do you think we're doing what's best for Christine?" Booth asked.

"I _think_, but I don't _know_."

"I know you don't like this, Bones, but sometimes you just have to go with your gut feeling on things," Booth said.

"But that's not rational," Brennan protested.

"Not everything is rational, Bones. I thought you knew that by now," Booth said.

"I do know that. It's just…hard for me to accept," Brennan said. "The idea that something like this happened for no reason…The Law of Cause and Effect is a basic principle of classical physics. This is almost breaking the laws of physics. I find that…very unsettling."

"Is that all it is, Bones? You're just freaked out about the scientific aspect of this?" Booth asked. Brennan's eyes shifted to the floor. "I know you, Bones. Whenever you get this cool and rational and scientific, that's when I know something's really bothering you."

"Why isn't this bothering you?" Brennan asked. "You don't seem perturbed at all by the fact that our daughter is deaf. Why is that?"

"I don't know if 'bothers' is the right word," Booth said. "It makes me nervous for the future. But I'm also really looking forward to this future. It's not the…ideal situation. But it definitely isn't the worst one."

"I'm not saying that."

"I know you're not. I'm just saying that if you look for them, there are almost as many pros to this situation as there are cons," Booth said. "We're going to get to learn a whole new language. We're going to get to experience a whole different culture. The anthropologist in you must be excited about that."

"My anthropologic side is rather stimulated by that idea," Brennan admitted.

"It'll all work out, Bones. No matter what we decide, Christine is going to make the best of it and live her life to the fullest."

"What makes you think that?" Brennan asked.

"Because that's what you would do."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"Hey, Bones. Did you…go to the…grocery store and…buy…uh…milk?"

This was how most of Brennan and Booth's conversations sounded ever since they started taking sign language classes. Wanting to improve as fast as they possibly could, they had decided that they would try to speak and sign everything they said to each other while they were at home for extra practice.

"Yes, and the peanuts you wanted, too," Brennan responded, accompanying her words with the corresponding hand gestures almost effortlessly.

"How is this so easy for you?" Booth asked, throwing his hands in the air. "I'm dying here, and you're already fluent after a month of classes!"

"First of all, I'm not fluent," Brennan said. "Second, I told you that I already knew a little sign language before we started. And like you said before, I speak six languages. They just come easily to me."

"Everything comes easily to you."

"You know that's not true," Brennan said. "I think you're doing very well, Booth. This isn't a process that can be rushed. And if it makes you feel any better, Hodgins and I are the only ones who are learning it easily. Angela and Cam are having a harder time, too." After hearing that Booth and Brennan decided to learn sign language for Christine, their friends immediately joined their class, wanting to be able to communicate with their child, too. The fact that their friends were willing to learn a whole new language for them and their daughter meant the world to Brennan and Booth.

"Let's take a break from the signing for a little while, huh, Bones?" Booth suggested.

"Sure. There's something we need to talk about, anyway."

"What's up?"

"Well, we've both been back to work for a few weeks now, and my dad has been watching Christine. Obviously, that can't go on forever. I was thinking about how we need to start looking for a nanny," Brennan said.

"I've been thinking about that, too. Angela has a nanny for Michael, doesn't she?" Booth asked. Brennan nodded. "What do you think about putting Christine and Michael together and splitting the cost?"

"Temporarily that would work, but not in the long term," Brennan said.

"Why not?" Booth asked.

"Because Angela's nanny has no experience with deaf children," Brennan said. "We'll need a nanny who knows sign language and has prior experience caring for kids who can't hear. We might even have to find a special needs caregiver."

"Special needs?" Booth repeated. "I do not like the term special needs, Bones."

"Well, the accuracy of the phrase cannot be denied," Brennan said. "Christine requires a nanny who knows sign language, which is a special need."

"It's not the phrase that bothers me, Bones, it's the implication," Booth said. "When you hear special needs, everybody thinks about a kid who can't do anything for themselves."

"Well, she's a baby, Booth. She can't do anything for herself."

"That's not what I _mean_, Bones," Booth said exasperatedly.

"Then what do you mean?" Brennan asked.

"Just forget it, Bones," Booth said with a sigh. "Why don't you call Angela and ask her how she found her nanny. If she went through an agency, maybe they'll have one that knows sign language."

"That's a good idea." Brennan got out her cell phone, speed dialed Angela, and put her on speaker phone.

"Hey, sweetie," Angela said when she answered the phone.

"Hey, Angela. It's me and Bones," Booth said. "We were wondering where you found your nanny."

"We found ours through this agency called Georgetown Nannies," Angela told them. "They were really good. We got to interview a few different nannies and then picked the one we felt the most comfortable with. I'd recommend them."

"But we need a nanny who knows sign language and has experience with deaf children," Brennan pointed out. "Do you know if they can do that?"

"Oh. Didn't think about that," Angela said. "I don't know if _they_ can do that, but I do know someone who can."

"Who?" Booth and Brennan asked in unison.

"My cousin, Leah," Angela said. "She's worked as a teacher for deaf and hard of hearing kids for, like, five years up in New Jersey. She just moved to DC a few months ago after she got married, and last time I talked to her, she was still looking for work. I bet she would be willing to be Christine's nanny."

"What's the catch?" Booth asked.

"Why would you assume there's a drawback?" Brennan asked.

"Just sounds too good to be true, that's all," Booth said.

"Well, there is something that you all might not like," Angela said.

"What's that?" Booth asked.

"Leah, she's…What's the nice way to say this? Well…Leah is a little…insane," Angela said.

"Wait, wait, wait. Define 'insane,'" Booth said.

"It's a state of mind that prevents normal perception, behavior, or social interaction. I thought you would know the definition of insane," Brennan said.

"He didn't mean that literally, honey, he was asking me why I think Leah is crazy," Angela said. "She's just got a…quirky personality, that's all. You want me to give her your number?"

"You just said she's insane," Booth said. "Are we talking just hippie dippy trippy, or bat shit nuts?"

"I don't know what either of those things mean," Brennan said.

"Somewhere in between," Angela told him. "I'm telling you. Leah's kind of like the Grand Canyon. You have to see it for yourself."

"She's been a teacher for five years, Booth. Clearly she's been doing something right," Brennan pointed out. "I would like it very much if you gave her our number. What do you think, Booth?"

"Give her our number, but I make no promises until I lay eyes on this woman," Booth said. "What's Leah's last name?"

"Are you going to do a background check on my cousin?" Angela demanded.

"Of course! I've gotta see what this woman's been into before I leave her alone with my kid!" Booth said.

"We are all aware that my father was involved in bank robbery and murder, but you left Christine alone with him," Brennan pointed out.

"That was different!"

"How so?"

"It was different because he's your father."

"I don't see why genetics should play any role in determining who is fit to be a proper caregiver. A criminal record is a criminal record."

"You'll be happy to know that Leah has no criminal record," Angela said, putting a stop to the developing dissonance.

"As far as _you_ know. I'm running her," Booth said.

"As you wish. Her name is Leah Atwood," Angela said. "I'll give Leah your phone number and make sure she gives you a call, alright?"

"That sounds good. Thank you, Angela," Brennan said.

"You're welcome, sweetie. See you tomorrow." Angela ended the call.

"Why don't you look happy? We just found a possible nanny," Brennan said to Booth.

"Yeah, a possibly insane nanny."

"Booth, you know that Angela is prone to hyperbole," Brennan said. "I'm sure that Leah is perfectly sane."

"We'll see what comes up when I run her name," Booth said.

"Sometimes I wonder why people think that I'm the one with trust issues," Brennan said.

"Bones, this is a little like immediately trusting someone you meet at a Laundromat or on a bus," Booth said. "They're both full of lunatics."

"That seems like an unjust generalization," Brennan said.

"I'm just saying, it's never a good idea to trust someone that's like the Grand Canyon right off the bat," Booth said.

"I'm not sure I completely understood that, but I believe in giving people the benefit of the doubt," Brennan said. "She can't be _that_ bad."

"I don't know. She _is_ related to Angela," Booth said. "I guess we'll just have to see what happens. And comes up in her background check."

**XXX**

A week later, Brennan and Booth were waiting for Leah to arrive at their house for their first meeting. They were sitting on the couch together in the living room, anxiously waiting for their doorbell to ring.

"I still don't know how I feel about this lady, Bones," Booth said.

"I don't know why you're so apprehensive," Brennan said. "Nothing came up on your background check, and I don't believe that being compared to the Grand Canyon is enough to make an even somewhat valid assumption about a person. But perhaps I just don't understand your analogy."

"It's not the Grand Canyon thing that bothers me, it's—" The doorbell interrupted Booth. He and Brennan got up and went to the front hall to answer the door. Their eyes widened a bit when they first laid eyes on Leah.

Leah truly was a sight that had to be seen with one's own eyes. Her hair was blonde with pink and blue dye streaking the tips. She was wearing a neon green tutu with a matching tank top underneath a black, off the shoulder t-shirt with the names of cities printed on it. Neon green fishnets reached from her hands to her elbows and were accompanied by more neon green bangles. Her appearance really was like the Grand Canyon: hard to believe and completely unique.

"Hi! I'm Leah. You must be Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan," Leah greeted them happily.

"That-That would be us," Booth said, trying to recover from the initial shock of Leah's appearance.

"It's great to meet you! Angie's told me a lot about you," Leah said.

"We've heard a bit about you, as well," Brennan said, not nearly as stunned as Booth was. "Please, come in."

"Thanks," Leah said as she walked into their house. "Do you want to talk in the living room or…?"

"The living room would be good," Booth said. "Can we get you some water?"

"Sure, that'd be great."

"Great. Living room's right there. We'll meet you in a second," Booth said. "Come on, Bones. Let's get some water." He quickly pushed Brennan into the kitchen.

"What's wrong, Booth?" Brennan asked once they were alone.

"I don't know if this is gonna work out, Bones," Booth said in a hushed tone.

"What? Why would you think that? We haven't even talked to her," Brennan protested.

"Yeah, but just look at her. She's clearly teetering towards the bat shit nuts level on the crazy scale," Booth said.

"I don't think that's a real thing, and I also don't think that we can judge her based on her eccentric exterior."

"Yeah, but Bones—"

"Most people don't want to get to know me because they judge me as difficult and awkward right away," Brennan said. "Most people never even give me a chance. I want to give Leah a chance."

Booth nodded, seeing how personal and important this was to her. "Okay, Bones. You're right. Everyone deserves a chance. Let's grab some waters and go talk to her."

Booth filled three glasses of water and carried them into the living room. Leah was sitting in the chair beside the couch. Booth placed the waters on the coffee table before he and Brennan sat down beside each other on the couch.

"It's exciting to meet you guys. Angie and I don't talk a lot, but when we do talk, she always tells stories about you two. It's cool to meet you in person," Leah said.

"It's good to put a face to your name," Booth said. "So how old are you, Leah?"

"I'm twenty-nine."

"Angela said that you used to work with deaf children in New Jersey," Brennan said.

"That's correct," Leah said. "I've always known that I want to work with kids, and I've been interested in ASL and the deaf community since I was a teenager, so I thought it would be a good way to combine the two."

"If you were a teacher, you must have attended college, correct?" Brennan asked.

"I did. I have a bachelor's degree in American Sign Language and a master's in special education."

"Impressive," Booth said. "Have you ever been involved in child care before?"

"I babysat kids when I was in high school, but not since then," Leah said. "But I love kids and I think that I'm very good with them. I always made a special connection with each of my students in one way or another. I'd love to make a connection with your daughter."

"Well, we want someone who's dedicated and…you know…" Booth was still distracted by Leah's appearance.

Leah smiled. "Go ahead. You can ask. I know you want to."

"Yeah, I gotta admit, I'm curious," Booth said. "What's with the getup?"

"It's a simple answer, Agent Booth. I wear this because I like it," Leah said. "I've tried every style known to man, and I've never felt like me until I hit this one. I know that a lot of people judge me, and I'm sure I've gotten turned down for a few jobs because of it. But I've been hired before looking like this, and that's how I know it's the right place for me to work. If my boss accepts me for me. So if you guys are okay with it, this is the right place for me."

"I have no problem with it," Brennan said. "There's clearly a great deal of substance beneath the unconventional external surface, and I appreciate and respect your alacrity to disregard conformity."

Leah turned to Booth. "Did you…"

"Just smile and nod," Booth said. "Well, if Bones is okay with it, I'm okay with it. Angela vouched for you. You have experience with deaf kids. You're fluent in sign language. You're just what we're looking for. What do you think, Bones?"

"I think that we should offer her a job," Brennan said.

"I think so, too," Booth said. "Power's in your hands now, Leah. What do you think?"

"I would love to be Christine's nanny," Leah said happily. "I enthusiastically accept your offer."

"That's what we were hoping you would say," Booth said. "Bones and I have pretty busy and sporadic work schedules, so we're going to have to sit down and—" The sound of Christine crying from the baby monitor interrupted Booth.

"It's my turn," Brennan said as she started to stand.

"No, please. Could I? I'd love to meet her," Leah said.

"Sure. We'll show you to her room," Brennan said. She and Booth led Leah upstairs to Christine's bedroom. Booth and Brennan watched Leah from the doorway.

"Hey there, little girl," she said and signed to Christine before she picked her up and started to rock her until she calmed down.

"Thank you for making me give her a chance," Booth whispered to Brennan.

Brennan smiled. "The best things come in unconventional forms."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Six months after Christine was born, Booth and Brennan were sitting on a blanket in the grass of their spacious backyard with Christine in between them. They had been working on a particularly difficult and gruesome case for the last few weeks; coming home to Christine's little smiles and affection made them feel like it was all worthwhile.

"After twelve years, I completely forgot how fast babies grow, Bones," Booth said as he smiled down at their daughter. "It's only been six months, and look at Christine. She's already sitting up and crawling! Parker didn't start crawling until he was eight months old."

"Christine does seem to be rather advanced for her age," Brennan agreed.

"It's because you're a genius, and she's half you," Booth said. "That's why she's learning sign language so fast, too. 'Cause she's a genius, just like you."

"That obviously cannot be officially determined without an IQ test when she's older," Brennan said, smiling happily.

"You know I'm right." Booth smiled and let out a satisfied sigh as he gazed out at the setting sun. "You know, Bones, this backyard is one of my favorite things about our house."

"I never had a backyard when I was growing up," Brennan said as she put Christine's lost pacifier back into her mouth. "We just had mounds of mulch."

"So you never played outside?" Booth asked. Brennan shook her head. "What'd you and your brother do?"

"I mostly read. Russ mostly tried to watch television programs our parents didn't approve of," Brennan said.

"Of course you read. Didn't you have any toys or dolls or anything like that?"

"My parents bought me a few toys, but the only ones I found any interest in were the jigsaw puzzles," Brennan said.

"Yeah. We're going to make sure that Christine's childhood is a little more…normal than yours was," Booth said. "Did your parents play games with you?"

"Not very often. They were busy working during the day, and I now know that they were busy robbing banks during the night. Did your parents play games with you?"

"Yeah. You name it, my parents played it with me. That's why I played so many games with Parker when he was younger," Booth said. "I think one of the best times I ever had with Parker was when I was teaching him the sounds that animals make. He caught on so quickly and thought it was hilarious. That was great."

"Do you…Are you upset that that's not something you can do again with Christine?" Brennan asked meekly after she had put Christine on her lap.

"Well, yeah. That was one of the things about having a second kid that I was looking forward to," Booth said. He saw a sad look cross Brennan's face. "But it's still okay with me." She silently wrapped her arms around Christine and held her close. "Bones?"

"The Law of Cause and Effect is a basic principle of classical physics," she said quietly.

"You told me that a few months ago."

"I know. I'm saying it again," Brennan said. "One of the things I love about science is that it can't be argued with. A formula is a formula, a law is a law. There's no room for confusion or misunderstanding. Everything is just the way it is. And one of the biggest principles in science is that the laws of physics _cannot_ be broken. It is _impossible_."

"Nothing's impossible, Bones."

"This is. Breaking the laws of physics is _completely_ unfeasible."

"Okay, fine. What's your point?"

"My point is, the Law of Cause and Effect can't be broken. We can't just say that something happened for no reason. Everything has a reason. And this has been bothering me ever since Christine was born."

"What, Bones?"

"She can't be deaf, Booth," Brennan whispered. "I keep going over the entire pregnancy in my head over and over again, trying to find the point where I made a mistake."

"You didn't make a mistake, Bones. This isn't your fault," Booth said, feeling sorry for her. It bothered him that they didn't know why Christine was deaf, but he understood why it tortured Brennan. It was breaking the laws of her precious science, the thing she used to make sense of everything in the world. And more importantly, it was making her feel guilty.

"I _must_ have done something wrong, Booth. I _must_ have," Brennan said. "There are no genetic factors. It has to be the pregnancy. I made a mistake. I just can't determine what the mistake was."

"That's because you _didn't_ make one," Booth said.

"If I didn't make a mistake, then why is she deaf?"

"Because the universe works in mysterious ways," Booth said. "I didn't know that this was still bothering you. Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I feel awful," Brennan said. "I don't know what it was, but I did something that made our daughter deaf. It's my fault that she'll have to struggle more in life than she would if she was hearing."

"Bones, this isn't like you," Booth said. "You know that this isn't rational. Why do you feel so guilty over something that wasn't your fault?"

"I need to blame something, and the most rational thing is me," Brennan said.

"Bones, God knows that I haven't the slightest idea how your brain works, but I do know that something you did is not the most rational option. I was with you throughout your entire pregnancy; you did everything right. You ate right, you took prenatal vitamins. It was a flawless pregnancy, it really was."

"If it wasn't me, then why is she deaf?" Brennan asked.

"Does the why really matter?" Booth said. "Even if we find out why this happened, it won't change anything. Christine will still be deaf."

"I know that. I'm not asking or hoping for that to change. I know it won't. But I do know that…I'll feel so much better if I have a reason."

"No one's saying that there was no reason for this, Bones. We just don't know the reason," Booth said.

"Well, we need to find out."

"Bones, I know that you have a sort of mania for the truth but—"

"That's not why," Brennan said. "I need to know so I can stop blaming myself."

"Well…there may be one thing that might have caused it, but you're not gonna like it," Booth said. "It was a few weeks before you told me that you were pregnant, but you did have that really bad cough for a few weeks, and I told you to go to the doctor to get some antibiotics. Did you ever do that?"

"Oh. Oh, my God," Brennan said. "I did. I did, Booth. The doctor told me that I had bronchitis, so he prescribed antibiotics. I never told you this before, but I'm allergic to penicillin. A lot of the non-penicillin antibiotics are ototoxic. That means they can damage the ears. They never give them to pregnant women. But I didn't even know I was pregnant then. I took the pregnancy test a week after I started taking the drugs. Oh, my God. I can't believe I did that."

"Bones—"

"I hardly ever go to the doctor when I'm sick. I've always just let it ride through," Brennan said. "I only went to the doctor because I saw how concerned you were about me. I didn't want to worry you, so…so I went." She hid her face behind her hair. "I can't believe I did that."

"Bones, it wasn't your fault," Booth said, gently rubbing her back. "You didn't know you were pregnant. If you had known, you wouldn't have taken the pills."

"But I did. That's the cause, Booth. That _has_ to be the cause," Brennan said. "This really is my fault."

"Bones, you have to stop saying that," Booth said. "I know you're mad at yourself. But I'm not."

"You're not mad at me?" Brennan asked.

"Of course not," Booth said.

"Why not?"

"Because thanks to you, I have a beautiful little girl," Booth said. "I don't care that she's deaf. I'm just glad that I finally got the daughter I always wanted. And I'm _really_ glad that I had her with you."

"I'm glad that I had her with you, too." Brennan exhaled. "I'm not upset that she's deaf. I was a little bit at first, but not anymore. The more we learn sign language and teach it to Christine, the more I feel like we've made the right decision and maybe that this was even meant to be."

"Then why are you so mad at yourself?" Booth asked.

"Because…I'm not sure," Brennan admitted. "I…I made a mistake. I don't like making mistakes."

"First of all, it's not a mistake to get medicine when you're sick, and it's not a mistake when you don't know that you're pregnant," Booth said.

"It feels like a mistake to me. And I really don't like that feeling."

"Well, no one does. But it happens to everyone. I couldn't even ask you to make a list of all of the mistakes I've made in my life. We'd run out of paper."

"This was a very sizeable mistake," Brennan said.

"I've made plenty of sizeable mistakes, too. Everybody has," Booth said.

"But all of your sizeable mistakes have led to something good," Brennan said.

"So did yours," Booth said. "Parker was a sizeable mistake, but he was the best mistake I've ever made in my life. Christine was technically a mistake, too, but I wouldn't take it back for anything. And I don't think you should wish that you could take back your mistake, because your mistake is going to make Christine the wonderful girl she's supposed to be."

"You really do think this was meant to be, don't you?" Brennan said.

Before Booth could respond, Christine turned her head around so she was looking at both of her parents. She picked up her tiny hand and slowly signed two words: "mom" and "dad." Brennan and Booth smiled at each other.

"Definitely," Booth said. "It was definitely meant to be."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

December twenty-fourth had rolled around once again, and this time, Brennan and Booth were celebrating two special occasions: Christmas Eve and Christine's first birthday. The eccentric crime fighting team always had a party together to celebrate Christmas. Brennan and Booth offered to host it that year so they could incorporate Christine's birthday into their celebration. With the cake sitting in the fridge and the decorations hung, the only thing left for them to do was wait for their friends to arrive.

"What do you think of the decorations, Bones?" Booth asked Brennan as he stared at the living room from the front hall.

"What about them?" Brennan called from the kitchen where she was busy chopping vegetables for the salad.

"Do you think we balanced this out right?" Booth said. "Like, do you think we have the right amount of Christmas stuff and little girl's first birthday stuff?"

"I think it's fine. I don't know why you're obsessing over this so much; it's just a party," Brennan said.

"Yeah, but we've never thrown a party here, and we've never had to combine a birthday party and a Christmas party," Booth said. "I just want it to go right."

"It will be fine, Booth. Whenever you think I've been working in the lab for too long, you always tell me that sometimes I need to take a step back from something and stop obsessing over it for awhile if I want it to work out. Perhaps you should take your own advice."

"Yeah, you're right," Booth said reluctantly.

"I know I'm right. Come help me with the salad."

"On my way."

Just after their final preparations for dinner were finished, the doorbell rang. Brennan and Booth went to answer it together, revealing Cam and Sweets when they opened the front door.

"Merry Christmas, you two!" Cam said with a grin.

"Merry Christmas," Booth said as he and Brennan stepped aside so Cam and Sweets could enter. When the door was halfway shut, they heard another voice outside.

"Hold that door," Angela said as she and Hodgins rushed up the front steps to the door just in time to slide through.

"Merry Christmas, Booth, Dr. B," Hodgins said once they were in the house.

"Where's my goddaughter? I have a lot of spoiling to do on her first birthday," Angela said.

"She's sleeping. I was going to wake her up when my dad gets here," Brennan said with a smile. "Please don't spoil her too much."

"Like you could stop me," Angela said. She nodded towards the seven presents she had stacked in her arms and the six gift bags hanging off her wrists. "Where should I put these?"

"Please tell me these aren't all for Christine," Booth said.

"No. The one on top is for you guys and two of the bags are for Sweets and Cam," Angela said. Booth shook his head with a smirk.

"Why don't you put them on the coffee table?" Brennan suggested. Angela, Cam, and Sweets went to go put their gifts down.

"She went crazy on the presents," Hodgins told Booth and Brennan in a hushed tone. "This is _nothing_. I made her take some of them back, there were so many."

"If I want to spoil my goddaughter, then damn it, I'm going to spoil my goddaughter!" Angela said loudly from the living room. "You don't whisper as quietly as you think you do, Jack!"

"Let's just say that Angela has definitely been in the spirit of giving," Hodgins said with a smile before a knock on the door ended any oncoming hissy fits. Brennan opened the door and let Max inside.

"Merry Christmas, Tempe!" he said happily as he hugged his daughter.

"Merry Christmas, Dad," Brennan said before they separated.

"Yay, Max is here!" Angela squealed.

"I don't think anyone has ever been so happy to see me, not even Tempe," Max said.

"She's happy you're here because Brennan said she was going to bring Christine down as soon as you came," Hodgins explained.

"So go get her, Bren!" Angela demanded. Brennan went upstairs with a smile and returned a few minutes later with Christine in her arms. Angela immediately rushed over and picked her up.

"Oh, I swear, she gets cuter every time I see her," Angela said. Christine's tiny fist made a little circular motion around her chin. "Oh! She signed 'aunt'! She knows I'm her aunt!"

"You've got a smart kid right there," Cam said.

"Well, what do you expect? She's half Bones," Booth pointed out.

"Can the spoiling begin now? Please?" Angela said pleadingly.

"Well, Angela says we're opening presents first," Booth said. "Everyone have a seat. Let's get this party started."

The next twenty minutes involved chatting, laughing, wrapping paper remnants on the floor, and _a lot_ of new clothes and toys for Christine. The best part was watching Christine trying to open the presents Angela had brought for her. She almost immediately understood how to take the ribbon off first, then start peeling off the colorful paper.

"I don't even want to think about how smart this kid is going to be in a few years," Booth said. "It's kinda gonna suck if my kid is smarter than me."

"Don't worry, Booth. I'll help you keep up with her," Brennan said with a smile.

"You know, Angela, you almost make me feel like a terrible grandfather for only getting her a few things," Max said.

"Almost?" Angela asked.

"Yeah. I've got something pretty excellent coming in a little while," Max announced.

"What are you talking about?" Brennan asked.

"Just a little something that I thought Christine might enjoy," Max said with a mysterious smile.

"It concerns me when you become so enigmatic, Dad," Brennan said. Before anyone could respond, the doorbell rang.

"That's probably my surprise," Max said excitedly. "Go open the door, Tempe."

"Okay," Brennan said cautiously as she stood up and walked to the front door. Her face fell when she saw Max's "special surprise" through the peephole.

"Oh, no," she said.

"What's wrong, Bones?" Booth asked.

"Booth, are you wearing your gun?" Brennan asked, ignoring his question.

"What? My gun? No. Why?"

"That makes me feel much more comfortable," Brennan said mostly to herself before she opened the door and let Max's surprise into the house. The second Booth saw it, his eyes grew wide.

"What the hell is that?" Booth demanded.

"It's clown!" Max said proudly. "Kids love clowns, and I found a clown that knows sign language, so I thought it would be a good surprise for Christine."

"Hi! I'm Fizbo the Clown!" Fizbo said joyfully. "Where's the birthday girl?"

"No. Nuh-uh," Booth said. "That thing is not getting anywhere near my daughter."

"Christine, look!" Angela said as she pointed to the clown. Christine turned her head towards the front door. She grinned and started giggling when she saw Fizbo.

"Aw! She likes him!" Cam said. "Fizbo, come on over!"

"No! No way!" Booth protested, but the clown walked into the living room and crouched down to Christine's eye level.

"Hi, Christine! I hear that this is a very special day for you!" Fizbo said and signed to Christine. "You want to see a few tricks?" Christine's grin widened. "Okay. How about some balloon animals?" He pulled a balloon out of his pocket, blew it up, then twisted it into the shape of a dog and handed it to Christine. She giggled joyfully and showed him the sign for "more."

Brennan was smiling as she watched Fizbo make another balloon animal for Christine. She spun around when she felt Booth's hand on her shoulder.

"Booth, are you okay? You look pale," Brennan said.

"Bones, I want the clown out of this house," he said firmly.

"But Christine loves it."

"It's freaking me out. I can barely be in the same room with it."

"Booth, you're not afraid of going into a building to save a hostage from an armed sociopath, but you're afraid of a man wearing face paint. I truly can't comprehend that."

"It's not a fear, Bones, it's a hatred. I have hatred in my heart," Booth said.

"Booth, Christine really likes it. As long as you don't shoot it like you shot that other clown—"

"A _mechanical _clown, okay? _Mechanical_," Booth said firmly.

"Do I need to call Gordon Gordon?"

"Why would you need to call Dr. Wyatt? You have a psychologist right here," Sweets said.

"Stay out of this, Sweets," Booth snapped. "Max, how long is this clown going to be here?"

"I paid for half an hour," Max told him. "I'm sorry. I didn't know Booth was afraid of clowns."

"Not afraid! Hatred!"

"What's up with that?" Hodgins asked while Angela watched Fizbo make more balloon animals for Christine. "Why are you so afraid—"

"Hatred!"

"Of clowns that you shoot them?"

"I did not shoot a _real_ clown, I shot a _mechanical _clown. Why can't you people get that through your heads?"

"Just answer the question, Seeley," Cam said. "What's up with your fear—excuse me, severe aversion—to clowns?"

"Can't we talk about this later? If I have to have a clown in my living room, I'd at least like to watch my daughter enjoy it," Booth said.

"Fine, but we will get an answer about of you," Cam said.

The group spent the rest of the half hour watching Christine smile and laugh at the clown and his antics. As soon as the half hour was up, Booth had Brennan escort him out of their house as quickly as possible, not wanting to go anywhere near it himself. He flopped onto the couch with a relieved sigh as soon as it was gone.

"Did you like the clown, Christine?" Brennan asked her daughter in English and sign language. Christine smiled as she moved her fist up and down, the sign for "yes."

"Great. Glad she liked it. Now no more talking about the clown," Booth said firmly.

"Seriously, what is it with you and clowns?" Hodgins asked.

"You know what, I'm starving. Who wants some dinner?" Booth said.

"Booth, how long do you think you can avoid this question?" Cam asked.

"At least through a lovely, clownless, Christmas Eve-slash-birthday dinner," Booth said. "Come on. Who's hungry? Bones made a chicken."

"I didn't make a chicken, I bought it from the grocery store," Brennan said.

"Shh! You don't _tell_ your guests that, Bones, you want to impress them!" Booth said.

"Oh. Yes, I made a chicken," Brennan said. The others tried to hide their smirks.

While their guests sat down in the dining room, Brennan and Booth brought out the salad and the store-bought chicken and set it in the middle of the table. Once Christine was sitting in the high chair next to Brennan, the group started to eat.

"That was great, sweetie," Angela said once all of the food was gone.

"Dinner's not over yet," Booth said. "We still have one more thing. I'll be back." He stood up and headed back to the kitchen. When he returned, he was carrying a pale pink round cake that read "happy birthday, Christine" with a single candle in the middle. He placed it on the table before he and the rest of the group started to sing "Happy Birthday," accompanying their words with sign language. After he and Brennan blew out the candle for her, Booth started to cut slices of the cake for every person.

"Now's the time, G-man," Angela said while they were eating their cake. "What's the deal with you and clowns?"

"Alright, alright. You really wanna know?" Booth asked. The others all nodded. "Fine, but you guys can't laugh. When I was a kid, I had this dream, alright? There was this clown and he had a bunch of knives and what I now recognize as an M16. He was shooting at me and trying to cut me up and murder me. Ever since, I've absolutely been terrified by—I mean, I've absolutely hated—clowns."

"Wow. I would love to conduct a Freudian analysis of that particular dream," Sweets said.

"Stay out of my head, shrinkie boy, alright?" Booth snapped. "Anyway, the clown doesn't matter. All that matters is that we all had a great Christmas party, and Christine had a great first birthday. But seriously, you guys, no more clowns in my house."

"I think that can be arranged," Max said.

"It's getting late. We have to get home to Michael before the babysitter has to leave," Angela said.

"I need to leave, too. Michelle and I are going to watch _Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown_ together," Cam said.

"Alright. Merry Christmas, you guys. We hope you had a good time," Booth said.

After all of the guests had left, Booth and Brennan brought Christine upstairs to put her in her crib for the night before they put all of the dishes in the dishwasher. Once everything was cleaned up, Brennan and Booth sat down in the living room together for a few minutes of solitude.

"Well, despite the clown, I'd say this was a pretty good party," Booth said.

"I agree," Brennan said. "I have very much enjoyed our first year with Christine."

"Me, too." He kissed her cheek. "Merry Christmas, Bones. Here's to many more years to come."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Just after Christine turned one and a half, Booth and Brennan decided that it was time to try something that they had never done before, thinking that Christine was too young; they were finally going to have a playdate with Michael, Angela, and Hodgins. The four parents were very interested to see how their children would react around each other, since neither had had much interaction with other children. During a weekend in late June, the they all gathered at Booth and Brennan's house to finally introduce each other to their children.

"Bones, did you cut up some fruit for the kids?" Booth asked while they were waiting for Hodgins and Angela to arrive.

"Yes, Booth, and I put the apple juice in a pitcher, like you asked," Brennan said. "Every single time we have some sort of gathering, you always obsess over every little detail. Why is that?"

"I don't know, Bones. Maybe because I care about what people think of me, unlike you," Booth said.

"Granted it is not to the extent that you seem to, I do care what people think of me," Brennan said. "And it's just Angela and Hodgins. These are not people we need to impress."

"Impress, no. Make sure they don't think we're a dysfunctional couple, yes."

"To a certain degree, we are a dysfunctional couple," Brennan pointed out.

"Dysfunctional? You think we're dysfunctional?"

"Would unconventional make you feel better?"

"Very much so. Thank you," Booth said. "They're gonna be here any minute. Is Christine in her crib?"

"No. I told her to pick out her favorite toys so she could share them with Michael," Brennan said. "Speaking of cribs, though, we really need to start thinking about buying her a real bed. I'm getting tired of her getting out of her crib and coming into our room in the middle of the night to brag about how she's able to get out of her 'baby cage.' Angela told me that they're looking for a bed for Michael, but he's fighting it."

Booth chuckled. "Christine does seem to be extremely independent for an eighteen month old." Christine walked into the kitchen carrying a mountain of toys just after Booth finished speaking.

"Christine, I told you to pick out a few of your favorites, not every toy you own," Brennan said and signed, as she and Booth always did when they were talking to their daughter.

"Let me help you, sweetie." Booth removed the toys from Christine's arms and put them on the counter.

_"I want to share all my toys, Mommy," _Christine signed to Brennan.

"That's very kind, Christine. I'm sure Michael will love them," Brennan said. The doorbell rang a few moments later. "Aunt Angie, Uncle Hodgins, and Michael are here. Let's go say hello." The three walked to the front hall to open the door for Angela, Hodgins, and Michael.

"Hey, guys!" Angela said with her cheerful grin.

"Hi-Hi," Michael said.

"Hi, Michael!" Booth said with a smile. "Come on in, you guys." The three entered the house and headed into the living room. Angela and Hodgins sat down on one couch, and Brennan and Booth sat on the opposite one. Michael and Christine stood in the space between the two sofas.

_"Mommy and Daddy like to talk about your parents a lot," _Christine signed to Michael. He turned to his parents, looking perplexed.

"What's she doing, Mommy?" Michael asked.

"We talked about this, sweetie , remember?" Angela said and signed so Christine would be able to understand what was going on. "Christine can't hear people talking, so she uses her hands to talk."

"But I hear people talking. How come she can't hear people talking?" Michael asked.

"Either because the bones in her ear didn't form correctly while she was in the womb or her cochlea never developed the hairs that are necessary to create the perception of sound," Brennan explained. Michael looked at her with a confused expression on his face.

"We're talking to a two year old, Bones," Booth reminded her before he turned to Michael. "What your Aunt Tempe was trying to say is that Christine's ears don't work the way yours do, so that's why she can't hear people talking."

"Oh," Michael said, not really understanding.

_"Can I show Michael my toys?" _Christine asked.

"Christine wants to show you her toys, Michael. Why don't you go play with her in the kitchen?" Angela said to her son.

"Okay," Michael said with a nod, which helped Christine understand what he was saying. She took Michael's hand and they walked into the kitchen together and started to play.

"Look at them," Angela said as she watched Christine and Michael play together. Christine was showing him each toy, and Michael was playing mini charades so he could communicate with Christine. "They are _adorable_. How funny would it be if they ended up dating one day?"

"Thinking a little far into the future, Ange," Hodgins said with a smile.

"Michael seems to be talking a _lot_," Booth commented.

"Oh, we can't get him to shut up," Angela said with a laugh. "He's made a lot of the developmental milestones pretty early on. Speech has been the biggest thing. I can't believe how much and how clearly he talks."

"Christine hasn't said a single word," Brennan said uncertainly.

"Well, that should be expected, right?" Hodgins said. "I mean, if she can't hear words, how would she be able to say words?"

"I wonder if that's going to be a problem later on, though," Brennan said.

"It's not going to be a problem. She has her own language," Booth said, trying to reassure her.

"Yes, but the majority of the public doesn't know sign language," Brennan said. "What if she never learns to speak?"

"She'll get by, sweetie. Whether she speaks or doesn't speak, Christine will get by," Angela said, feeling guilty for making Brennan so worried on what was supposed to be a lighthearted occasion.

"I hope you're right," Brennan said uneasily.

"It'll be fine, Bones," Booth told Brennan, sliding his hand into hers. "We'll do everything we can to make sure she learns to talk. We'll get speech therapy, anything it takes." Brennan nodded silently.

"I'm sorry, Bren, I didn't mean to upset you," Angela said. "I was just, you know, proud of my kid."

"We're proud of Christine, too," Booth said. "This kid is wicked smart. She's picked up on sign language so fast. We can have conversations with her and she's only eighteen months old! She's walking like a champ, she figured out how to get out of her crib by herself, she can figure out jigsaw puzzles. I'm telling you, she's a genius."

"Have you explained the fact that she's deaf and what it means to her?" Angela asked.

"A little," Booth said. "We told her that her ears don't work right, so she gets to use her hands to talk instead of her mouth. We'll explain more as she gets older."

"How'd she take that?" Hodgins asked.

"She seemed to understand," Brennan said. "It really didn't seem to bother her."

"I really do think she'll be okay," Angela said. "I mean, look at her with Michael. He doesn't even know what sign language is, but they're managing."

The four adults turned their heads to look at the toddlers. Christine was showing Michael her favorite jigsaw puzzle, guiding his pieces to the right location. It was the perfect activity for them. It involved no talking whatsoever. Christine gently took Michael's wrist and showed him what to do.

"They're adorable," Angela said with a grin. "I wasn't kidding about them dating one day."

"We'll see about that. But I know for sure that they're going to be really close friends," Booth said.

Michael and Christine played together for another forty-five minutes while the four adults talked about buying big kid beds and their favorite parts of parenting. After they gave the kids a quick snack of fruit and apple juice, Angela and Hodgins took Michael home. After they left, Booth suggested that they watch a little TV. They sat down on the couch together, with Christine sitting in Brennan's lap.

_"Mommy? Daddy?" _Christine signed almost immediately after Booth pushed the "on" button on the remote control.

"Yes, Christine?" Brennan said.

_"When can Michael come play again?"_

"Did you two have fun together?" Booth asked.

Christine nodded. _"He liked my puzzles."_

"He can come over whenever you two want," Booth said.

_"Good. I like Michael." _Christine's eyelids began to droop. She curled up in Brennan's lap and almost immediately fell asleep. Brennan and Booth smiled.

"You can't not love this kid," Booth said.

"That does seem rather unfeasible," Brennan said. She looked up at Booth. "You do think she'll be okay, don't you? Even if she doesn't learn to speak?"

"Bones, trust me. Christine is brilliant. Even if she never learns to speak, or hell, even if she just doesn't _want_ to speak, she is going to find a way to get by in this world," Booth said.

"Why are you always so confident when you make these statements?" Brennan asked.

"Same reason I said awhile ago," Booth said.

"Which was?"

"Because Christine is half you. And that's what _you_ would do."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Christine's second birthday and Christmas passed in a blink of an eye. After their annual Christmas party, Cam and Michelle had left for a ski vacation in Vail, Colorado, Cam's big present for Michelle. Angela and Hodgins had decided to meet Angela's dad in Orlando so they could go to Disney World, Sweets went to visit his cousins in Minnesota, and Rebecca had taken Parker back to Vermont. That left Booth, Brennan, and Christine alone in DC.

A few days after Christmas, a huge snowstorm hit DC. One of the things Christine had wanted for Christmas was snow, so she couldn't wait for the storm to calm down enough for them to play outside; after three days, the snow finally stopped falling. Booth and Brennan went up to Christine's room at nine o'clock to wake her up. Brennan gently shook her until her eyes opened.

_"Is it still snowing, Mommy?" _Christine immediately asked.

Brennan shook her head. "No, it finally stopped."

Christine's eyes shot open. _"Can we go play in the snow? Please?"_

Booth smiled. "I think that's a great idea, sweetie."

Without another word, Christine hopped out of the "big girl bed" she had gotten a few months earlier and ran to her closet. _"Mommy, help me reach my clothes."_

"Don't you want us to help you get dressed?" Booth asked.

_"No, Daddy. I want to do it myself."_

Smiling at her daughter's sense of independence, Brennan helped Christine reach a long-sleeved shirt, jeans, a snow jacket, gloves, socks, and snow boots. Booth and Brennan watched in awe as Christine put every article of clothing on correctly.

_"Let's go!" _Christine signed with a grin. _"I want to build a snowman!"_

Booth laughed. "Just let me and Mommy put our coats on, okay?"

_"Quick, Daddy! I want to play!"_

"Just one minute, Christine," Brennan said and signed, equally amused.

After Booth and Brennan grabbed their heavy coats and gloves from the front closet, they went outside and watched Christine run around in the snow with a joyful smile on her face.

"Is that not the cutest kid you've ever seen, Bones?" Booth said.

"She is highly endearing," Brennan agreed. "I never thought I wanted children, but now… it is very difficult to imagine my life without her."

_"Mommy, Daddy! Let's build a snowman!" _Christine signed as she ran up to her parents standing on the front porch.

"Okay, sweetie. Why don't we build it by the mailbox?" Booth suggested.

Brennan, Booth, and Christine started to roll large balls of the sticky snow together so they could build their snowman. Once they had the bottom, torso, and head completed, they began to look around for things they could use to create a face for their frosty friend.

"My fingers are about to fall off," Booth said while he and Brennan dug through the snow searching for some pebbles to use as eyes. "We must really love this kid."

After Booth and Brennan collected enough pebbles to make two eyes and a smile, they stood up and walked back over to the snowman to give them to Christine. But to their surprise, Christine wasn't with the snowman.

"Where'd she go?" Booth wondered aloud.

"I saw her here a second ago," Brennan said.

Suddenly, an earsplitting car horn sounded. Brennan and Booth both turned their heads towards the noise. There was a car speeding right towards Christine, who was about to wander into the street in front of the car's path.

"Christine!" Booth screamed. He took off running towards her, grabbing her arm and pulling her back just in time to save her from being run over. Christine seemed to realize what had almost happened and started to cry. Booth got down on his knees and held her close to him. Brennan ran over and got on the ground with Booth.

"Christine, you have to be careful!" Booth said and signed strongly. He was clearly as upset as Christine was.

_"The car…it almost…hit me," _Christine signed through her tears.

"I know, honey," Brennan said. "Are you hurt?" Christine shook her head. "You're just scared?" She nodded.

_"I don't want to play in the snow," _Christine signed. _"I want to go inside."_

"I think that's a good idea," Booth said. "Come on, baby. We'll make you some hot chocolate, okay?" Christine nodded. "Okay."

_"Pick me up, Daddy," _Christine requested, much to Brennan and Booth's surprise. Christine always wanted to walk by herself and pushed them away when they tried to pick her up. They could tell she was incredibly upset.

Booth picked Christine up, carried her into the house, and placed her on Brennan's lap on the couch in the living room. While Brennan tried to comfort Christine by stroking her hair and holding her close, Booth made them all hot chocolate. Christine seemed much happier when she had a mug of the warm drink in her little hands.

"Christine, do you remember when we told you that your ears don't work like other people's ears do?" Booth asked her in English and sign language. Christine nodded. "Do you understand what that means?"

_"It's not normal to hear nothing," _Christine said.

Booth nodded. "That's right, it's not. You're going to have to be more careful than most kids when you're playing outside. Other kids would have been able to hear a car coming and get out of the way. But since you can't, you didn't know it was there, and Daddy had to get you. But some day, you're going to be old enough to play outside by yourself, and if it happens again, Mommy and I won't be able to help you. You have to watch what's going on around you so you can stay out of danger. Can you do that for us?"

Christine nodded. _"I'm sorry, Daddy."_

"It's okay, honey. We're not mad at you," Brennan said. "We just want you to be extra careful whenever you're playing outside so you don't get hurt. Okay?" Christine nodded. "Good." She kissed Christine's head. "We love you, Christine."

"That's right," Booth agreed. "When you're scared, Mommy and I are scared. When you're hurting, we're hurting. That's how much we love you."

_"I love you," _Christine signed. _"I'm sorry I scared you and Mommy."_

"It's okay, baby. We love you, too," Booth said. "You look tired. Do you want to take a nap?" Christine nodded. "Okay. Let's get you out of those wet clothes and get you in bed."

Brennan and Booth took Christine upstairs to her room and helped her change into dry clothes and put her in bed so she could take a nap. When they went back downstairs, Booth took one look at Brennan and realized that she was close to tears.

"Bones? Are you okay?" he asked.

"I've just…I can't remember the last time I felt as scared as I did when Christine almost…when that car came by," Brennan said. "I couldn't even move, I was so scared."

"That's normal, Bones," Booth said as he rubbed her arm comfortingly.

"But you weren't scared," Brennan said.

"Wasn't scared? Bones, I was _terrified_."

"You didn't seem terrified. You did what you always do. You were a hero."

"Even heroes get scared, Bones, especially when their kid's life is in danger," Booth said. "Look, Christine is fine. Why are you so upset?"

"Because I'm worried now," Brennan said. "There are so many ways that Christine could get hurt because of her deafness."

"We talked about this the day Christine was born, Bones," Booth said. "Christine is going to get hurt. We can't protect her from everything. It sucks, but it's part of parenting."

"But I'm talking about life threatening incidents that we're unable to protect her from."

"Bones, I really think Christine understands that she needs to pay more attention to her surroundings than other kids," Booth said. "She's so independent. I think she's going to want to be more careful so that I won't have to save her again. She wants to take care of herself."

"I'm still worried about her," Brennan said.

"So am I, Bones. We're always going to be worried about her, even if she was hearing. It's just another part of parenting."

"I do not enjoy this particular part of parenting," Brennan said.

"Well, you know, parenting, it's not all rainbows and puppy dogs, Bones."

"Who has a puppy?" Brennan asked with a confused expression.

"Never mind. All I'm saying is, Christine is going to get hurt plenty of times while we're there to help her, and that's going to prepare her for when she gets hurt when we're not around," Booth said.

"I don't understand why that would make me feel better," Brennan said.

"It's not supposed to make you feel better. It's just the truth. Which is supposed to make you feel better," Booth said. Brennan just looked at him, her face twisted in confusion. He was just making things worse by perplexing her. "Just listen, alright? Christine is going to fall, and we're not always going to be there to catch her. But that's okay. Because each time she falls, she learns something. Christine just learned that she needs to pay better attention to what's going on around her. That's a pretty invaluable lesson for her. And she would never have learned it if she hadn't almost gotten hit by that car. You see what I'm saying?"

"I believe I understand what you're telling me," Brennan said after a moment of thought. "I shouldn't worry about every little thing that could happen to Christine, because most of them will be irrational figments and some will have a beneficial aspect. However, I _should _worry about the more plausible, serious things because those are the ones I have some power over."

"Sure, Bones," Booth said, knowing that she needed to translate his layman's terms into her own language. "Do you feel a little better now?"

"I think so," Brennan said.

"Good. Then why don't we go finish that hot chocolate?" Booth suggested.

Brennan nodded. "I'd like that."

"We better save some for Christine, though. She'd never forgive us if we drank it all," Booth said. "You know, that kid…"

"What about her?" Brennan asked. Booth took her hand and started to walk her into the kitchen.

"That kid is _just_ like _you_."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

"Bones! Have you seen my cell phone?"

"Yes, Booth. It's on the kitchen counter.

"Oh, now I see it. Bones, have you seen that roll of quarters? I went to the bank yesterday _specifically_ to get a roll of quarters. What'd I do with it?"

"It's on the table in the front hall."

"Thanks. Oh, Bones—"

"Stop, Booth!" Brennan exclaimed. "For the past fifteen minutes, all you've been saying is, 'Bones, have you seen this?' 'Bones, have you seen that?' I am not responsible for your misplaced belongings."

"I'm sorry, Bones. I'm just excited," Booth said. "This is the first time Parker and I are going out to do something together in weeks. He's always had a baseball game or been at a birthday party or something. I'm just really excited to finally be able to see him in person for the first time in forever."

"I understand, Booth. I can't imagine how difficult it would be for me to go weeks without seeing Christine," Brennan said. "Does Parker like the zoo?"

"You kidding me? The zoo's one of his favorite spots in the whole city," Booth said. "The penguins are his favorite, but he loves to feed the animals in the petting zoo, too. That's what the quarters are for."

_"Mommy, there's a car in front of the house!" _Christine signed energetically as she ran into the kitchen.

"That's Parker, Christine," Booth said. "I know it's been a little while, but you remember your big brother, right?"

_"I remember everything, Daddy," _Christine signed with a serious expression.

Booth laughed. "Good, because he's going to be happy to see you." The doorbell chimed just after Booth finished speaking and signing to his daughter. "Come on, Christine! Let's go get Parker!" Brennan and Booth followed Christine to the front hall and opened the door to see Parker waving goodbye to Rebecca, then spinning around the second he heard the door open.

"Dad!" Parker exclaimed with a grin on his face.

"Hey, buddy!" Booth said with a smile even wider than Parker's as he swept him into a big hug. "Long time, no see, huh?"

"Yeah. I've missed you a lot. And Bones and Christine, too," Parker said as he received a hug from Brennan. "Look what I learned to do." He turned to Christine and slowly started to sign as he spoke. "Hi, Christine. How are you today?"

_"I'm good, but I miss you," _Christine replied. Parker looked at his dad.

"I'm not that good yet," he said.

"You're _great_, Parker. That's was _awesome_," Booth said with a proud smile. "She says she's been missing you." Parker didn't say a word. He leaned over and gave Christine a hug. Booth and Brennan smiled broadly, thrilled to see that Parker and Christine had such a good relationship.

"So Parker, when do want to leave for the zoo?" Booth asked once his two children had separated.

"Right now!" Parker exclaimed. He and Booth said quick goodbyes to Christine and Brennan before they went out to the garage and headed off to the zoo.

_"Mommy, why can't I go to the zoo with Daddy and Parker?" _Christine asked Brennan once they had been left alone.

"Because you get to see Daddy every day, but Parker only gets to see him occasionally," Brennan explained.

_"But I don't get to see Parker every day."_

"I know, honey. I would love to go to the zoo as a whole family, too. But we have to let Daddy and Parker have some time alone together," Brennan said. "But while Daddy and Parker get to spend time together, you and I get to spend some time alone together."

_"That's true," _Christine conceded. _"Okay, Mommy. What should we do?"_

"Do you want to go to the park?" Brennan asked. Christine shook her head. "Do you want to do a puzzle together?" Christine shook her head. "Then what would you like to do?"

_"I want to do something for Daddy and Parker," _Christine said. _"I want to surprise them."_

"We can do that," Brennan said with a thoughtful nod. "Do you have any ideas?" Christine shook her head. "Well, Daddy just got that tent for his birthday from your grandpa that he hasn't been able to use yet. Do you want to set it up in the backyard and go camping tonight?"

_"Yes! I've never been camping before!" _Christine signed excitedly. _"I want to go camping, Mommy! Let's go camping!"_

"Okay, Christine, okay," Brennan said with a laugh. "First we should set up the tent, and then we can go to the grocery store together. Do you want to help me set up the tent?" Christine nodded happily. "Well, let's go get it."

Christine and Brennan spent half an hour pitching the large yellow tent Max had given Booth for his birthday a few months before. Once they were finished, Christine was the first to get inside it. She came back out after exploring it with a big smile on her face.

_"It's so big!" _she exclaimed. _"We could fit you and me and Daddy and Parker and Grandpa and Aunt Angie and Uncle Hodgins in it!"_

"I'm not sure we would be able to fit _all_ of those people, but I think the four of us could fit quite easily," Brennan said with a smile. "What do we need to do next, Christine?"

_"We need to go buy food so we can toast marshmallows and eat dinner outside," _Christine replied.

"That's right. Come on, Christine. Let's go to the grocery store."

After a quick grocery run, Brennan and Christine returned home to make their final preparations. Brennan built a fire using her vast knowledge and skills while Christine watched attentively, wanting to be able to build a fire herself. After setting a box of matches outside so they could light the fire later, they brought out camping chairs, flashlights, blankets, sleeping bags, and pillows and got everything situated inside the tent. They had just sat down in the living room when Booth and Parker walked through the door.

_"Daddy, Daddy!" _Christine signed happily as she ran to greet her father. Booth picked her up and gave her a big hug.

"Hi, Christine," he said with a smile, happy to see how excited Christine was to see him.

_"Daddy, guess what?"_

"What?"

_"I'll tell you if you put me down," _Christine signed from Booth's arms. He laughed and put her on the floor. _"Mommy and I have a surprise for you."_

"Oh, do you?" Booth turned to Parker. "Apparently, she and Bones have a surprise for us."

"I like surprises," Parker said. "Bring it on, Christine."

_"I'll show you! Come on, Parker!" _Christine grabbed Parker's hand and dragged him towards the back door. Booth shook his head and smiled before he turned to Brennan.

"What have you two been doing all day?" he asked.

"I believe Christine would like to show you that herself," Brennan said, gently grabbing Booth's elbow and leading him out back.

"Whoa! Dad, check this out!" Parker shouted, making Booth hurry outside. He grinned when he saw the tent and strong fire.

"Wow!" he said. "Christine, did you do all this?"

_"Mommy and I did it together!" _Christine said. _"We're all going to sleep out here together, and we got marshmallows and hot dogs for you and Parker, and tofu dogs for me and Mommy."_

"Tofu dogs? You eat tofu, Christine?" Booth asked, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

_"It's better than a hot dog. Do you know what they make them out of?"_

"Do _you_?"

Christine nodded. _"Mommy told me."_

"Of course she did," Booth said. "Bones, you couldn't let our kid enjoy hot dogs?"

"If she's going to eat them, she should be aware of what she's putting into her body. You and Parker should, too. They're made of—"

"Whoa, no, no, no! Stop! I'd like to enjoy my hot dog, if you don't mind," Booth said.

Brennan shrugged. "It's your body."

"Show me the tent, Christine," Parker said, pointing to the tent so she would know what he was talking about. She took his hand and led him inside the tent.

"Thanks, Bones," Booth said as he pulled Brennan close to him. "This is really awesome."

"I had a feeling you would enjoy it," Brennan said with a smile. "I'm just glad Parker and Christine are getting along so well. You didn't tell me Parker was learning sign language."

"He didn't tell me. Guess he wanted to surprise us," Booth said.

"Well, it was a wonderful surprise. I'm sure that meant the world to Christine. And to me, too," Brennan said. She gave a satisfied sigh. "I never thought I would have a family. I never thought I _wanted_ a family. But I don't think I've ever been as happy as I have been for the last two and half years. Having Parker here makes me even happier."

"Me, too," Booth said. He and Brennan stood outside the tent for a few minutes, watching Christine and Parker's shadows. Christine was teaching Parker how to say camping terms in sign language.

"Hey, Christine, do you know how to swear yet?" Parker asked his sister.

"Parker!" Booth scolded. But nothing, not even Parker's mischief, could wipe the smiles off of Booth and Brennan's faces.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Now that Christine was three years old, Brennan and Booth had started looking for a preschool for her to start in the upcoming fall. It had led to a bit of bickering and uncertainty after hearing the opinions of outside sources. Some believed Christine would be better off if she was exposed to hearing children. Others said that she needed the resources only a deaf school could offer. When the deadline for applications was only two weeks away, Brennan and Booth sat down in the living room together to discuss their options.

"Alright, Bones. Let's get this started," Booth said as he began to look through their collection of pamphlets. "Truman Elementary?"

"No special needs services," Brennan said.

"Franklin Early Childhood?"

"They only offer half days. We agreed Christine is ready for full days. What about Smith?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Bad vibes."

"There's no such thing as bad or good vibes," Brennan argued.

"Whatever," Booth said, rolling his eyes. "Before we start narrowing down schools, we have to decide what we want. Hearing or deaf."

"You know what I want to do. I want to send her to an all deaf school. You're the one who's having a hard time making the decision," Brennan said.

"I'm leaning towards all deaf, too, I just want to consider ever option," Booth said.

"I've considered every aspect of this decision and have weighed the pros and cons for each," Brennan said. "I believe that the pros of an all deaf school greatly outweigh the pros of a hearing school. She'll be taught in sign language. She'll receive special services such as speech therapy administered by experts in the field. The only pro I see to sending Christine to a hearing school is that she will be exposed to hearing children. But I also see that as a con, as they might make fun of her. I know what that's like, and I do not want to take any chance that my daughter might have to go through it. I really want to send her to a deaf school."

Booth nodded. "Alright, Bones. You've convinced me. Deaf school it is." He threw four pamphlets for hearing schools aside. "That leaves us with three options. We have Laurent Clerc Early Childhood, Cogswell Academy, and Davila School for the Deaf."

"I don't want to send her to Laurent Clerc because they only offer early childhood education," Brennan said. "I want Christine to be able to go to this school for many years. They need to have upper level education."

"That leaves Cogswell and Davila," Booth said. "If you want the school to have upper level education, I think we should go with Davila. Cogswell is early childhood through eighth grade, but Davila goes all the way through high school. They also have full day schedules for the preschool. Every student receives speech therapy, American Sign Language lessons, and intensive English lessons; it's a bilingual school."

"It's also associated with Gallaudet University, the only college in the world for deaf students," Brennan said. "I really like Davila, Booth. What do you think?"

"I know you don't think this is a good way to make a decision, but I've really got a gut feeling about Davila," Booth said. "My gut says that it's the perfect school for Christine."

_"Mommy, what are you and Daddy doing?" _Christine asked as she approached her parents in the living room.

"We're talking about where you're going to go to preschool," Brennan said.

_"I want to go to preschool, Mommy. I want to go to school like Parker does and learn," _Christine signed with a big smile.

"We're glad you're excited about school," Booth said, smiling back. "We think you're going to go to a school called Davila. Does that sound good to you?"

_"Whatever you think, Daddy," _Christine said with a shrug. _"When do I get to start?"_

"In just a few weeks," Brennan told her. "Are you excited?" Christine nodded happily. "Good. I'm glad. Why don't you bring in one of your puzzles to work on while Daddy and I fill out the paperwork for your school?"

_"Okay, Mommy!" _Christine ran upstairs to her bedroom to grab her favorite puzzle.

"This preschool ain't gonna know what hit 'em," Booth said, looking after his daughter. "Christine's gonna knock their socks off when they see how smart she is. And how cute."

Booth and Brennan worked on the application forms for Davila while Christine worked on her puzzle on the floor by their feet. They finished stuffing it into an envelope just in time to hand deliver it to the mailman. When they went back inside, Christine asked her parents to make her macaroni and cheese for dinner. Brennan and Booth spent their dinner of the cheesy pasta watching Christine go on and on about how excited she was about going to preschool and learning everything in the world. She kept going on and on about preschool until Brennan and Booth turned out the lights in her room after saying goodnight to her.

"Man, I've never seen a kid so excited about going to school," Booth said as he and Brennan went back downstairs.

"I know. I hope she enjoys it as much as she thinks she will," Brennan said.

"She's gonna love it. Know why?"

"Why?"

"Because we found the perfect school."

**XXX**

A few weeks later, after the final paperwork at been completed and uniforms had been purchased, it was time for Christine to start preschool at Davila. As soon as Christine saw the classroom, her eyes lit up with excitement. She saw all of the other kids signing to each other and with their parents and their new teacher. Christine looked at her parents with a broad smile.

_"Look, Mommy! They all know sign language!" _Christine signed happily.

"I know, sweetheart," Brennan said with a smile. "Why don't we go meet your teacher?" She took Christine's hand and the trio walked across the room where Christine's preschool teacher, Miss Holly.

"Who do we have here?"Miss Holly asked in English and sign language when Brennan, Booth, and Christine approached her. "What's your name?"

_ "My name is Christine Booth," _Christine told her.

"Nice to meet you, Christine. I'm Miss Holly," Miss Holly said, spelling out her name with her fingers. "Are these your parents?" Christine nodded.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Holly. I'm Seeley Booth, and this is my girlfriend, Dr. Temperance Brennan," Booth said, indicating to himself and Brennan.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Booth, Dr. Brennan. Welcome to Davila," Miss Holly said as she shook their hands. "Christine is adorable."

"Thanks," Booth said with a proud smile.

_"Mommy, you said preschool starts at 8:15. Daddy's watch says that it's time to start," _Christine signed.

"You know how to tell time, Christine?" Miss Holly asked, surprised.

Christine nodded. _"Mommy taught me."_

"That's great. You're a very clever girl," Miss Holly said and signed. "You're right, Christine. It is time to start." She began to wave her hands in the air to get all of the deaf students' attention, motioning for them and their parents to come together in a large oval marked with yellow tape on the carpet.

"Would everyone like to sit down?" Miss Holly asked in English in sign language. She, the students, and their parents all sat down on the floor. "Hello, everyone! My name is Miss Holly, and I am very happy to welcome you to preschool at Davila! I'm excited to get to know every single one of you and help you as you step on the first stone on the path of your education." Miss Holly grabbed a stack of papers from behind her back and placed it in front of her crossed legs. "I'm going to pass out our daily schedule to your parents and a description of what we'll be doing each day this year." She started to pass the stack around the circle and waited until everyone had received a handout before she continued. "Great! Now, parents, if you want to take a moment to say goodbye to your kids, we can start playing some get-to-know-you games."

"Bye, Christine," Brennan said. "Daddy and I will pick you up at three o'clock, alright?"

_"Okay, Mommy," _Christine signed, but her attention was drawn to the other children, not her parents.

"Are you going to be okay all day?"Booth asked, but Christine hadn't seen him ask the question. He tapped her shoulder so she would look at him. "Christine? Are you going to be okay by yourself?"

_"Yes, Daddy. I love you, but will you and Mommy please leave? Miss Holly isn't going to start the game until the parents leave."_

"Oh. Alright. We'll just, uh, be going, then." Booth kissed Christine's head. "We love you, baby."

_"Love you, Daddy. Love you, Mommy." _Christine was still mesmerized by all of the colors of the classroom and the children signing.

"I think she wants us to go, Bones," Booth said. He and Brennan stood up and walked out with the other parents. They got into their car in the parking lot and Brennan started to drive them to the lab while Booth looked over the handouts they had been given.

"Damn, Bones. Wait until you see this schedule," Booth said. "This is nothing like Parker's preschool."

"What do you mean?" Brennan asked.

"This is really intense, that's all. It's like real school. Parker's preschool was more like daycare," Booth said.

"Well, I didn't want to send Christine to daycare. We've had Leah for that for the last three years," Brennan said. "We wanted to send her to a place where she would be challenged."

"And challenged she will be," Booth said. "Group time for half an hour, ASL lessons for forty-five minutes, one-on-one speech therapy for forty-five minutes, English lessons for forty-five minutes, lunch for half an hour, recess for half an hour, reading lessons for forty-five minutes, and math, science, social studies, art, and PE for thirty minutes each."

"I wish I had had that kind of intensive education when I was Christine's age," Brennan said. "They do one-on-one speech therapy for forty-five minutes every day?" Booth nodded. "Does it say exactly what they work on?"

"It depends on whether the child uses hearing aids or not, but they mostly work on learning to read lips in preschool, because apparently being able to read lips can enhance a deaf child's ability to learn to speak. It says they work more on speaking in kindergarten."

"Good. It will be good for her to learn to read lips," Brennan said as she pulled into the parking lot at the Jeffersonian. "Let's go. Hodgins sent me a text saying he has something important for us to look at."

For the next few hours, Brennan did her work in the lab while Booth filled out some paperwork in her office until it was quarter to three, when they got back into their car so they could go pick up Christine from school. She was the first face they saw when they pulled in front of the school where all of the children were waiting. Christine waved to her teacher before she jumped into the backseat of the car.

"How was your first day at school, Christine?" Brennan asked, turning towards the back of the car from the passenger's seat.

_"It was so much fun, Mommy! I loved it!" _Christine signed happily. _"But there was something I didn't understand."_

"What's that?" Brennan asked.

_"Some of the kids had little pieces of plastic in their ears. I didn't know why," _Christine said.

"Those are called hearing aids, Christine. They make sounds louder so that people can hear better," Brennan explained.

_"Oh. Why don't I have hearing aids, Mommy?" _Christine asked.

"Well, your doctor never mentioned anything about hearing aids, so we never got them for you," Brennan said.

_"If I had them, would I be able to hear things?"_

"I don't know, Christine. That's a question we would have to ask your audiologist," Brennan said. "Is that something you really, really want?"

Christine shrugged. _"No. I'm just curious."_

"Alright. We can look into it. Now, what did you do on your first day of school?"

Christine spent the majority of the evening talking about how much she loved her teacher and her classroom and being around kids her age who knew how to sign. After Booth and Brennan put her to bed at seven o'clock, then went down to the living room and sat on the couch together.

"I'm thrilled Christine loves school as much as she does," Booth said. "I think this school is really going to be great for her."

"I agree," Brennan said with a nod. "What did you think about Christine asking about hearing aids in the car?"

Booth shrugged. "I think she was trying to learn what something was."

"But what did you think about her saying that she wants them?" Brennan asked. "Do you think she dislikes being unable to hear?"

"I think it's hard to truly dislike something when you've never experienced the alternative," Booth said.

"Do you think we made the wrong decision by not getting her the cochlear implant?" Brennan asked quietly.

"No, Bones. I don't," Booth said, squeezing her hand. "I think Christine is just a curious kid. She doesn't know what she wants. She just knows what she wonders about. She was wondering about hearing aids. That doesn't mean she hates being deaf." He lifted Brennan's chin with his finger so he was looking into her eyes. "We made the right decision, Bones. You know we did. Christine is in the best place for her. She's a brilliant, happy kid. Who knows what she would be if she had a cochlear implant? I mean, that's a whole different ball of wax." Brennan raised her eyebrows questioningly. "Never mind. What I'm saying is, Christine is the person she is because she's deaf. If she had a cochlear implant, who knows what her personality would be like? Who knows if she would be as happy as she is now?"

"But she could also be happier," Brennan pointed out.

"I really don't think she would be, Bones. I think she's about as happy as any kid could be."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because she's loved. She's loved more than any kid could ever hope for. And _that _is what happiness is all about."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

"Bye, Parker. I'll see you in a few weeks, buddy, alright?"

Saying goodbye to Parker at the end of their increasingly sporadic weekends together was always hard for Booth. Now that Parker was growing up, he often had other obligations on the days he was supposed to be with Booth. From the very moment Booth closed the door after watching Parker drive away with Rebecca, Brennan could detect a significant change in his demeanor. And now that Christine was getting older, she was able to notice the change as well.

_"Mommy, why is Daddy sad?" _she asked Brennan in the living room while Booth stared out the window, watching Rebecca's car drive down the road.

"He misses Parker," Brennan explained.

_"Can we make Daddy happy?" _Christine asked.

"We can try," Brennan said. "Why don't you go give Daddy a hug?" Christine immediately ran over to her father and wrapped her arms around his torso. Booth looked down at her and couldn't help but smile.

_"I made you smile!" _Christine signed with a proud smile of her own.

"How could I not smile at you?" Booth questioned. He leaned over and kissed the crown of her head. "You really know how to cheer a guy up, Christine." He looked up at Brennan. "Don't let me sit around here and mope, Bones. You and Christine have to distract me."

_"I know how to distract you, Daddy," _Christine signed. _"We should go to the park. The park always makes me happy."_

"I think that's a great idea, Christine," Booth said. "What do you think, Bones?"

"I enjoy going to the park, as well. I heard they just opened that new playground a few weeks ago," Brennan said.

_"I want to play on the playground! Let's go, Mommy!" _Christine signed before she ran for the garage. Booth and Brennan laughed and took off after her. When they reached the car, Christine had already gotten inside and buckled herself into her car seat.

_"Let's go, Daddy," _she signed casually.

"You know, Bones, at this point, I really don't know why I'm surprised," Booth said as he and Brennan got into the car. Brennan just smiled as Booth put the key in the ignition, backed out of the garage, and drove to Christine's favorite park. When they parked the car, Christine got out of her car seat herself and patiently waited for her parents to join her on the asphalt.

"Alright, Christine. You ready to go check out the totally awesome new playground?" Booth asked. Christine nodded with an excited smile and started to run towards the playground.

"Why is she always trying to run away from us?" Brennan asked as she and Booth began to chase Christine.

"It's not that she wants to get away from us, we're just too slow for her!"

After a little running, Booth and Brennan managed to reach Christine just as she began to climb the ladder to run around on the elaborate new playground. Booth pointed to an unoccupied bench to the side of the playground.

"Wanna sit, Bones? We can watch Christine from here," Booth said. He and Brennan walked over to the bench and sat down. They smiled as they watched Christine go down the slide, then run back up the ladder to do it again.

"I can't get over how adorable she is," Booth said. "Parker used to love the slides, too."

"I'm sorry you haven't been able to see him very much lately," Brennan said.

Booth sighed. "It's…yeah. You know, I get that Parker's a busy kid. I'm _glad_ he's a busy kid. But don't you think Rebecca should be willing to let me see him during one of her weekends if I haven't been able to see for the last three weekends?"

"Seeley?" a voice standing behind Brennan and Booth said before Brennan could respond to Booth's question. Their eyes widened when they turned around and saw the tall blonde woman standing before them.

"Hannah?" Booth asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just jogging and I thought I saw you. I thought I would come say hey," Hannah said. "What are you two doing here together at a playground? Waiting to interview someone?"

"Not exactly," Booth said. "We're here…together." Hannah looked at him blankly. "You know…Together."

"What Booth is trying to tell you is that we are here as a romantically involved couple. I don't know why he wouldn't just say that," Brennan said.

"That's you, Bones, always just cutting right to the chase," Booth said, shaking his head.

"Wow. I-I didn't know you two were a couple," Hannah said, trying to hide her shock. "How-How long have you been together?"

"About four years," Booth said.

"Wow. Four years, that's-that's a long time," Hannah said. "What-What made you guys decide to start going out?"

_"Mommy, come play on the slide with me!" _Christine signed as she came running over to her parents.

"Whoa. Who's that? Angela's daughter?" Hannah asked, her voice tinged with wavering optimism.

"No. This is our daughter," Booth said.

_"Who are you and Daddy talking to, Mommy?" _Christine asked.

"This is Hannah. She's an old friend of Daddy's," Brennan told her daughter.

_"Hi, Hannah. My name is Christine," _Christine signed with a friendly smile.

"I…" Hannah stuttered, not sure what to say.

"Hannah, this is our daughter, Christine," Booth said.

"Is she…" Hannah trailed off, unsure of how to finish her sentence.

"Yes, Christine is deaf," Brennan said.

"Oh. Wow," Hannah said, her eyes wide with shock. "I-I'm sorry, this is just…a lot of information at once."

_"Why is she staring at me like that, Mommy? Did I do something wrong?" _Christine asked, frowning unhappily.

"No, sweetie, you didn't do anything wrong," Brennan told her. "Hannah is just surprised that Daddy and I are together and have a daughter."

_"Why? Is there something wrong with that?"_

"No, there's nothing wrong with it. It's just surprising to her," Brennan said.

"You're making Christine think she did something wrong," Booth said to Hannah. "Why don't you and I go talk over there for a few minutes?"

"Sure. I'm sorry," Hannah said.

"It's okay." Booth picked Christine up and placed her on Brennan's lap. "You wait here with Mommy, okay? Daddy's going to go talk to his friend."

_"Okay, Daddy. You don't have to talk about yourself in the third person," _Christine said. Brennan laughed.

"Yeah, she's your daughter, Bones," Booth said. "I'll be right back." He and Hannah walked away from Brennan and Christine so they could talk privately.

"I'm sorry I froze up back there, it was just…a lot to take in," Hannah said.

"I understand."

"How old is your daughter?"

"Three and a half."

"Wow. Things certainly did change for you, didn't they?" Hannah said.

"They really did. And I'm glad. I needed a change," Booth said. "What about you? How have you been?"

"Oh, you know. Back and forth between jobs and homes."

"So you haven't settled down yet?"

"I have no intention of ever settling down. It's just not my nature," Hannah said. "But wow. You and Brennan. That is surprising."

"Why do you say that?" Booth asked.

"It's just…I knew she had feelings for you, but I just never saw you as a couple," Hannah said. "But here you are, not only together, but with a three and a half year old daughter. A deaf daughter."

"Mmm-hmm," Booth said, his arms folded over his chest.

"I'm sorry, I'm not trying to offend you or anything," Hannah said quickly when she saw his change in demeanor. "How-How did that happen?"

"She was born deaf. Complications during the pregnancy," Booth said.

"And-And she goes to school and everything?"

"Yes. It's just her ears that don't work, not her brain," Booth said. "In fact, she's absolutely brilliant. In some ways, she's even smarter than me."

"Well, she is half Brennan," Hannah said. "So…does she speak or…?"

"She uses sign language and she's learning to read lips, but no. She doesn't know how to speak. But this works out just fine for her," Booth said firmly.

"You don't have to be so defensive, Seeley. I'm not trying to attack you or her. I was just curious." Hannah shrugged. "Maybe it's none of my business."

"It's really not, but…that's okay," Booth said. "There are a lot of people who think less of Christine when they find out she can't hear. They underestimate her. I just don't want you to think that she's not…who she really is."

"I believe you, Seeley," Hannah said. She and Booth looked at Christine chatting with Brennan in sign language with a big smile on both of their faces. "She looks like a really happy kid."

"She is. She really is," Booth said.

"And Brennan…I mean, you know she doesn't have a very motherly vibe."

"Oh, yeah, I know what you mean," Booth said with a smile. "But Bones is a great mom. She really is. Way better than I thought she would be."

"And you're happy together?" Hannah asked.

Booth nodded. "Yes, Hannah. We're very happy."

"Good. You deserve that," Hannah said. "Do you think I could talk to Christine? I don't want her to think that I think there's something wrong with her."

"Sure. She's really been enjoying showing off her lip reading skills lately. I'm sure she would love to show you," Booth said. He and Hannah walked back over to Brennan and Christine.

"Did you have a good talk?" Brennan asked them.

"Yeah. It was nice to catch up," Hannah said. "It's been a long time since we've seen each other. A lot has changed."

"Yes, it has," Brennan agreed.

_"How did you meet my daddy?" _Christine asked Hannah, letting Brennan interpret for her.

"We met while your dad was working for the Army in a country called Afghanistan," Hannah explained. "Your dad told me that you're three and a half. That's a pretty big age."

Christine nodded. _"My daddy says I'm three and a half going on thirty."_

Hannah laughed. "You do seem like a very smart, mature three and a half year old. What's your favorite thing to do?"

_"I like to read and do puzzles and go to school," _Christine signed. _"What do you like to do?"_

"I like to go out with my friends and write stories," Hannah said before she looked at her watch. "I have to go. I'm supposed to meet my friend for lunch. But it was really nice to meet you, Christine, and it was nice to see you again, Seeley."

"Nice to see you again, too, Hannah," Booth said. "Good luck."

"You, too." Hannah turned around and jogged towards the parking lot.

_"I'm gonna go down the slide again, Mommy," _Christine signed as she slid off Brennan's lap and ran towards the playground. Booth sat back down next to Brennan.

"I never thought we would see her again," Brennan said while they watched Christine.

"Are you upset that we ran into Hannah?" Booth asked.

"No. I just didn't like the way she reacted to Christine," Brennan said. "She acted like Christine was a freak of nature, and Christine noticed."

"What were you two talking about while I was with Hannah?" Booth asked.

"Christine was asking me why people give her funny looks when we go out in public," Brennan told him.

"Well, what did you tell her?"

"I told her that her method of communication is very apparent, which draws people's attention to her," Brennan said.

"What'd she say to that?"

"She said it makes her sad," Brennan said. "I told her that she can't let other people's ignorance determine how she feels. The people who look at her don't know how wonderful she is, so she shouldn't care what they think about her." She shrugged. "I don't know if that was the right thing to say. You know I'm not very good at these things."

Booth squeezed her hand. "That was the perfect thing to say, Bones. You did it just right."

_"Mommy, Daddy! Come push me on the swings!" _Christine signed with a smile as she ran up to her parents.

"We'll be right there, Christine," Booth promised her. Christine ran off towards the swing set. "Back to work, Bones."


End file.
